United States Federal Circuit

Judgments against plaintiffs in a patent dispute involving types of canola oil are affirmed where: 1) given the high materiality of certain undisclosed information and the strong circumstantial evidence of an intent to mislead, there was no abuse of discretion in finding two patents unenforceable; and 2) because oil claimed in patents was the subject of at least an offer for sale before the critical date, and the claimed oil had already been reduced to practice, the district court's properly found patents invalid under the on-sale bar.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/14/2007
• Published 02/14/2007

Judges

• JORDAN, Circuit Judge., Before LINN, PROST, and JORDAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Federal Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Allen M. Sokal, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P., of Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant.   With him on the brief was Jeffrey W. Abraham.


• For Appellees:
  
• Harry J. Roper, Jenner & Block LLP, of Chicago, IL, argued for defendants-cross appellants.   With him on the brief were George S. Bosy, Raymond N. Nimrod, Patrick L. Patras, and Steven McMahon Zeller.   Of counsel was Marc Goldman, of Washington, DC. Of counsel on the brief were Guy A. Relford and Kenneth B. Ludwig, Dow AgroSciences LLC, of Indianapolis, IN.