{"id":8773,"date":"2010-06-29T05:39:24","date_gmt":"2010-06-29T10:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iposgoode.ca\/?p=8773"},"modified":"2010-06-29T05:39:24","modified_gmt":"2010-06-29T10:39:24","slug":"a-question-of-intent-expired-patents-and-false-markings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2010\/06\/29\/a-question-of-intent-expired-patents-and-false-markings\/","title":{"rendered":"A Question of Intent: Expired Patents and False Markings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amanda Carpenter is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.<\/em><\/p>\n

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has recently decided the case of Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co.<\/a><\/em> between Matthew Pequignot, a licensed patent attorney, and the Solo Cup Company (\u201cSolo\u201d), a company that manufactures disposable cups, bowls, plates, and utensils. Pequignot brought this action alleging that Solo had, for the purpose of deceiving the public, falsely marked its products with patent numbers as well as indicated that their products \u201cmay be covered\u201d by a patent despite knowing that their patents had expired.<\/p>\n

The expired patents owned by Solo covered plastic drink cup lids. After the patents were issued, Solo marked their disposable lids with an indication that they were covered under these patents in order to give notice to the public. When these patents expired, Solo became aware that it was marking its products with expired patent numbers and sought legal advice. They were advised that as long as they did not have an \u2018intent to deceive the public\u2019 there was no liability; however, they were also encouraged to remove the expired patent marking as soon as possible. Solo sought legal advice since the \u201cfalse marking\u201d statute, 35 U.S.C. 292 provides:<\/p>\n

(a)\u2026 Whoever marks upon \u2026 in connection with any unpatented article, the word \u201cpatent\u201d or any word or number importing the same is patented, for the purpose of deceiving the public;
\n\u2026
\nShall be fined not more than $500 for every such offense.<\/p>\n

(b) Any person may sue for the penalty, in which event one-half shall go to the person suing and the other to the use of the United States.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because removing the expired patent marking would have required the costly and burdensome replacement of the equipment used to make the lids, Solo decided to wait until the equipment needed to be replaced due to wear or damage, and then build new equipment that would not include the expired patent marking. As well, the indication \u201cThis product may be covered by one or more U.S. or foreign pending or issued patents. For details, contact www.solocup.com\u201d was affixed to packaging since the contents of some of the packaging\u00a0was patented and some of it was not (such as the lids) in order to give adequate notice to the public.<\/p>\n

Pequignot then brought this action alleging that Solo had falsely marked its products. The Court of Appeals decided that the lids previously protected by patents that have since expired were indeed considered to be \u201cunpatented articles\u201d according to the \u201cfalse marking\u201d statute. As the district court pointed out, \u201can article that was once protected by a now-expired patent is no different [from an article] that has never received protection from a patent. Both are in the public domain.\u201d Thus, the products that were once covered by now-expired patents were therefore \u201cun-patented\u201d within the meaning of the statute.<\/p>\n

However, the false marking statute also requires that the marker act \u201cfor the purpose of deceiving the public.\u201d Here the court decided that the combination of marking unpatented products as patented and the knowledge that the statement was false created a rebuttable presumption of intent to deceive the public, rather than irrebuttably proving such intent. The court agreed with Solo that it had successfully rebutted the presumption since it provided credible evidence that its purpose was not to deceive the public with the expired patent markings. This evidence consisted of good faith reliance on the advice of counsel and the desire to reduce costs and business disruption.<\/p>\n

As well, Solo rebutted the presumption of intent to deceive with the \u201cmay be covered\u201d language since it stated exactly the true situation; the contents of some of the packaging were covered by patents, and the contents of some of the packaging were not covered. The language was added to all packaging because the alternative was inconvenient from a logistical and financial perspective.<\/p>\n

Finally, since the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court\u2019s finding that Solo had no intent to deceive the public, the question of the meaning of \u201coffense\u201d was moot.\u00a0 The determination of what \u201coffense\u201d meant was relevant since Pequignot accused Solo of falsely marking at least 21,757,893,672 articles, and sought an award of $500 per article, one half of which would be shared with the United States.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court\u2019s finding of no liability since it was not shown that Solo had the requisite intent to falsely mark its products. As well, the Court of Appeals decided that the district court\u2019s determination of the meaning of the word \u201coffense\u201d was moot since it was found that there was no liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amanda Carpenter is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has recently decided the case of Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co. between Matthew Pequignot, a licensed patent attorney, and the Solo Cup Company (\u201cSolo\u201d), a company that manufactures disposable cups, bowls, plates, and utensils. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[740],"class_list":["post-8773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-patents","tag-amanda-carpenter-ipilogue-editor"],"yoast_head":"\nA Question of Intent: Expired Patents and False Markings - IPOsgoode<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2010\/06\/29\/a-question-of-intent-expired-patents-and-false-markings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Question of Intent: Expired Patents and False Markings - IPOsgoode\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amanda Carpenter is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. 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