In Inventio AG v. Thyssenkrupp Elevator Americas Corporation, et al., C.A. No. 08-874-RGA (D. Del. Dec. 13, 2013), Judge Richard G. Andrews denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on invalidity and granted-in-part plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on validity. The two patents-in-suit relate to elevator installation.
Defendants moved the Court to find both patents-in-suit invalid for indefiniteness and for failure to meet the written description requirement. The Court found the patents not invalid under these grounds, and therefore granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment with respect to indefiniteness, see id. at 4-8, and lack of written description, see id. at 8-11.
Plaintiff also moved the Court to find that the patents-in-suit complied with the best mode requirement and also argued that the Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over whether there was a best mode violation regarding the term “advance selector,” which appeared in unasserted claims. The court denied plaintiff’s motion as to best mode generally because a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether the inventor had developed a best mode. Id. at 11-12. On the other hand, the Court agreed that there was no subject matter jurisdiction over the claims containing “advance selector.” Id. at 12.
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