November 7, 2008

On November 6, 2008, Judge Aleta A. Trauger of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee entered summary judgment rulings favorable to Fitch Even client, HeathCo, Inc., a leading supplier of quality door chimes, motion activated lighting and lighting controls.

In this case, HeathCo is pursuing claims of infringement by EML and Costco under U.S. Patent No. 5,598,066 relating to motion activated security lighting. EML and Costco raised defenses alleging non-infringement and also alleged that the patent is unenforceable as a result of inequitable conduct committed during prosecution of the patent.

The Court granted summary judgment for HeathCo on the issue of inequitable conduct, finding that there was no evidence of intentional misconduct committed during prosecution of the ‘066 patent. The Court also denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment of non-infringement, finding that there were genuine issues of fact regarding infringement of certain patent claims by the accused lighting products. The defendants’ motions for reconsideration of the Court’s rulings were also denied.

HeathCo is represented by Karl R. Fink, Rudy Kratz, and Joseph F. Marinelli of Fitch Even.