TC Helps Establish Precedent On Reexamination Estoppel

In a case of first impression handed down earlier this week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the estoppel provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 315(c) apply "only after all appeal rights are exhausted, including appeals to [the Federal Circuit]." Thompson Coburn, on behalf of its clients Bunzl USA, Inc. and Bunzl Processor Distribution, LLC, asked the Court to overturn a trial court's conclusion that the estoppel provisions applied against Bunzl. The trial court had concluded that the estoppel provision took effect even though a reexamination proceeding was still pending on appeal.

In 2008, Bettcher Industries, Inc. sued Bunzl USA, Inc. and Bunzl Processor Distribution, LLC in the Northern District of Ohio alleging that rotary knife blades sold by Bunzl infringed a patent owned by Bettcher. Bunzl asserted that its rotary knife blades did not infringe the Bettcher patent and that the patent is invalid in view of prior art.