In Dorco Co. v. Gillette Co., No. 18-1306-LPS-CJB (Mar. 14, 2019), Chief Judge Stark denied the defendant’s motion to stay pending arbitration (brought both under the Federal Arbitration Act and as a matter of judicial discretion) and denied as moot the plaintiff’s motion to enjoin arbitration. The parties agreed that an earlier settlement agreement between them…

This update provides short updates on judicial decisions, trends, and notable events in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, traditionally one of the three busiest jurisdictions for intellectual property litigation.

In HIP, Inc. v. Hormel Foods Corp., No. 18-802-CFC (Mar. 28, 2019), Judge Connolly dismissed the plaintiff’s infringement claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In one of its counts, the plaintiff sought an order of correction under 35 U.S.C. § 256 that its president be named the sole inventor and owner of the asserted patent…

In Belcher Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. International Medication Systems, Ltd., No. 18-960-LPS-CJB (Mar. 31, 2019), Chief Judge Stark denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The defendant had filed a new drug application under 21 U.S.C. § 355(b)(2) with a Paragraph IV certification that the patent-in-suit was invalid, prompting the litigation. The…

In RICPI Communications LLC v. JPS Interoperability Solutions, Inc., No. 18-1507-RGA (Mar. 18, 2019), Judge Andrews denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss for claiming unpatentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The challenged patent concerned radio-over-internet protocol. The defendant argued that the challenged claims were directed to the abstract idea of “establishing a two-way connection…

In Finnavations LLC v. Payoneer, Inc., No. 18-444-RGA (Mar. 18, 2019), and a related case, Judge Andrews granted the defendants’ motions for exceptional case and attorneys’ fees. The defendants sought fees following the Court’s finding that the asserted patent was directed to the abstract idea of bookkeeping and lacked an inventive concept. Judge Andrews stated that…

In Orexo AB v. Actavis Elizabeth LLC, No. 17-205-CFC (Mar. 12, 2019), Judge Connolly denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment to preclude the defendants from challenging the invalidity of the asserted patent. In an earlier case, the plaintiffs had accused one of the defendants here of infringing the same patent, but by a different product.…

Legislation proposing to amend the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (LLC Act), the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (LP Act) and the Delaware Revised Uniform Partnership Act (GP Act) (collectively, the LLC and Partnership Acts) has been introduced to the Delaware General Assembly. The following is a brief summary of some of the more significant…

In Shareholder Representative Services LLC v. RSI Holdco, LLC, C.A. No. 2018-0517-KSJM (Del. Ch. May 29, 2019), the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld a provision in a private-company merger agreement precluding a buyer from using the seller’s privileged emails against the seller in post-closing litigation. Following the guidance from the decision in Great Hill Equity Partners…

Legislation proposing to amend the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act and the Delaware Revised Uniform Partnership Act has been introduced to the Delaware General Assembly.