Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
A patent infringement suit filed in Illinois by MedIdea LLC against Zimmer, Inc. of Warsaw, Indiana has been transferred to the Northern District of Indiana. The suit alleges infringement of the following patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office: 6,200,350 and 6,383,225, which relate to Hips, and Nos. 6,267,785, 6,379,391, 6,398,812, 6,821,300, and 7,229,478 which relate to shoulders.
Although this case is new to the Indiana court, it already has a long procedural history. The case was originally filed in the Eastern District of Texas in August, 2009. By far, more patent infringement suits a filed here in the Eastern District of Texas than anywhere else in the country, because this district has a reputation for plaintiff-friendly juries. MedIdea’s patent attorneys vigorously objected to the Zimmer’s motion for a change of venue, which was filed in November, 2009. The Court denied this motion to transfer, and Zimmer sought a writ of mandamus from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This appellate court reversed the denial of Zimmer’s motion for a change of venue on June 24, 2010, in In re Zimmer Holdings, Inc., No. 2010-M938, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 12939, at *11 (Fed. Cir). In reversing the order, the CAFC stated, that “because the only connection between this case and the plaintiff’s chosen forum is a legal fiction,” Zimmer met its burden of demonstrating that transfer was required. Later, The Texas court then granted the change of venue, but MedIdea then filed a motion for reconsideration of that order pending an en banc review of the order of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That effort was unsuccessful, and on October 19, 2010, the Texas court ordered that the case be transferred to Indiana.
The Northern District of Indiana is home to many medical device and orthopedic implant manufacturers, such as Biomet, DePuy, Zimmer, and Smith and Nephew. As a result, many intellectual property related cases are litigated in the Northern District of Indiana
In the Indiana Court, the case has been assigned to Judge Theresa Springmann and Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein.
Further information about this case is as follows:
Filed: November 10, 2010 as 3:2010cv00475 Updated: November 10, 2010 21:43:58
Plaintiff: MedIdea LLC
Defendants: Zimmer Holdings Inc , Zimmer Inc and Zimmer US Inc
Counter_claimants: Zimmer Holdings Inc , Zimmer Inc and Zimmer US Inc
Counter_defendant: MedIdea LLC
Presiding Judge:Theresa L Springmann
Referring Judge:Christopher A Nuechterlein
Cause Of Action: Patent Infringement
Seventh Circuit > Indiana > Northern District Court
Type:Intellectual Property > Patent