KLARQUIST NEWS
Mentor Wins Patent Claim Indefiniteness Defense in East Texas
On December 17, 2018, the Hon. Amos L. Mazzant, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, ruled indefinite (and thus invalid) the patent claims asserted against Mentor Graphics Corp. (Wilsonville, OR) by E-System Design, Inc. (Savannah, GA). (See Decision). The Court noted: “Perhaps these attorney arguments presented by Plaintiff might have been sufficient under the pre-Nautilus standard that a claim is indefinite only if it is ‘insolubly ambiguous’ or ‘not amenable to construction,’” but that the evidence presented by Mentor showed that the claims failed the more stringent “reasonable certainty” test announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2120, 2129 (2014). (Klarquist successfully represented Nautilus in the Supreme Court.) Mentor Graphics is represented by in-house counsel Tom Evans and Frank Nuzzi; Kristin L. Cleveland, Salumeh R. Loesch, John D. Vandenberg, Mark W. Wilson and Garth A. Winn of KLARQUIST SPARKMAN, LLP (Portland, OR); Megan S. Woodworth and Frank C. Cimino of VENABLE, LLP (Washington, D.C.), and Melissa R. Smith of GILLAM & SMITH, LLP (Marshall, TX).