The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reaffirmed its original opinion in Bowers v. Baystate Technologies (IP Update, Vol. 5, No. 9, September 2002), Judge Dyk dissenting in part. Bowers v. Baystate Technologies, Case No. 01-1108, -1109 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 29, 2003).
The Court, in the majority opinion, adhered to its previous rulings that under First Circuit law, the applicable law in this case, the Copyright Act does not preempt the contract claim presented by Bower’s "shrink-wrap" license; the district court properly omitted copyright damages as duplicative of contract damages; and under a proper claim construction, no reasonable jury could have found in favor of Bowers with respect to his claim for patent infringement.
