QUEST INTEGRITY USA, LLC v. COKEBUSTERS USA INC.
- May 21 2019 |
- Category: CAFC Updates
Quest appeals a judgment of the District Court in favor of Cokebusters holding on summary judgment that claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,542,874 (a system and method for displaying inspection data collected from certain commercial furnaces ) were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) because the claimed invention was offered for sale more than one year prior to the filing of the patent application. The CAFC concludes that the district court properly construed the claims and that the claims are invalid based on this claim construction. However, the CAFC also concludes that the district court erred in disregarding declarations of the inventors under the sham affidavit doctrine. Under the Third Circuit’s sham affidavit doctrine, a party may not create a material issue of fact to defeat summary judgment by filing an affidavit disputing his or her own sworn testimony without demonstrating a plausible explanation for the conflict. The CAFC finds that the declarations in question cannot be dismissed as sham affidavits and that Quest raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the validity of the claims. Accordingly, the CAFCaffirms the judgment of invalidity as to claims 12, 24, and 33, reverses the judgment of invalidity as to claims 30 and 40, and remands for further proceedings.