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04/09/2009
McAndrews, Held & Malloy Secures Definitive Victory for Client Alaris Medical Systems - Court Upholds Award of $5 Million in Attorney’s Fees and Costs
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CHICAGO, IL – April 9, 2009 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed, on all grounds, the rulings of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in favor of McAndrews, Held & Malloy client Alaris Medical Systems, Inc. Alaris, a subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc. [NYSE: CAH], develops and markets products for the safe delivery of intravenous (IV) medications. In its ruling, the Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s award of $5 million in attorney’s fees and costs to Alaris.
The medical device case involved more than $2 billion in Alaris products that had been accused of infringement by ICU Medical, Inc. [NASDAQ: ICUI], a manufacturer of disposable medical connection systems for use in intravenous therapy applications. ICU asserted four patents related to valves used in IV setups.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s decisions granting summary judgment of non-infringement and invalidity, and the awards of sanctions and $5 million in attorney’s fees and costs.
The $5 million fee award stemmed from the district court’s conclusions that the case was “exceptional” under the patent laws because ICU engaged in “objectively baseless and bad faith litigation,” and asserted a frivolous claim construction. The district court found that (1) ICU made “multiple, repeated misrepresentations . . . regarding its own patents” to support its motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, (2) ICU admitted that it had not originally sued on its “spike” patents, which issued several years earlier, because of the “substantial difficulty” it would face in asserting the “spike” claims against Alaris’ products, which were “spikeless,” (3) Alaris proffered evidence showing that “ICU did not believe that the [accused] SmartSite Valves infringed the ‘spike’ claims,” including a preliminary investigation in which ICU stated that “there is no spike inside the device,” and (4) “ICU’s misconduct warranted Rule 11 sanctions,” forming another basis for a fee award. The Federal Circuit affirmed, concluding that ICU had not shown clear factual error or an abuse of discretion.
McAndrews, Held & Malloy attorneys Timothy J. Malloy, David D. Headrick, Scott P. McBride and Wil L. Rao represented Alaris. # # #
About McAndrews, Held & Malloy Founded in 1988, McAndrews, Held & Malloy is one of the nation’s preeminent legal resources on intellectual property, antitrust and technology matters, serving institutions ranging from major multinationals and start-ups to world-class colleges and universities. The firm’s technically trained attorneys have built an unparalleled record of litigation successes in jury trials, bench trials and ADR proceedings. In addition, McAndrews offers its clients services in the following areas: patent and trademark procurement and portfolio management, patent interferences, trademark oppositions and cancellations, international practice, intellectual property/technology opinions and investigations, due diligence and M&A support, technology licensing and joint ventures, and technology transfers and donations. Additional information can be found at http://www.mcandrews-ip.com.
CONTACT: Randy Labuzinski / David Schulte Healy & Schulte 312/765-8770 rlabuzinski@healyandschulte.com
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