Ultimax Cement Mfg. Corp. v. CTS Cement Mfg. Corp., No. 08-1218

In a patent infringement action involving patents related to rapid-hardening, high-strength cement, district court's grant of summary judgments of noninfringement and that no trade secret was violated is  affirmed in part, dismissed in part, vacated in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) district court's finding of noninfringement is vacated and remanded as the court erred in claim construction of the the term "soluble CaSo4 anhydride"; 2) district court's grant of summary judgment of laches is reversed and remanded relating to the '556 patent as it is not clear that plaintiff knew or should have known of defendant's alleged infringement before it conducted discovery on the '684 patent in 2002; 3) district court erred in granting summary judgment that claim 17 of the '684 patent is indefinite; 4) plaintiffs' appeal with respect to the '534 patent is dismissed as it waived the argument of its invalidity; 5) district court denial of plaintiffs' motion to amend their complaint is affirmed; 6) district court's grant of summary judgment of no trade secret violations is affirmed; 7) district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiffs' motion to disqualify defendants' attorneys; and 8) although the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to make the case exceptional and denying attorney fees, the decision is vacated in light of reversal and vacatur of certain of the court's holdings on summary judgment.   

Read Ultimax Cement Mfg. Corp. v. CTS Cement Mfg. Corp., No. 08-1218

Appellate Information

Appeal from:  United States District Court for the Central District of California

Decided December 3, 2009

Judges

Before Lourie, Dyk, and Prost, Circuit Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Lourie

Counsel

For Appellant:  Saied Kashani, Saied Kashani Law Offices

For Appellee:  Michael R. Annis, Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP