KLARQUIST NEWS
Klarquist Obtains Early Summary Judgment Win for SAP and HP in Patent Infringement Suit
In a decision issued April 24, 2019 by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., Klarquist clients SAP America, Inc. and HP Inc. prevailed on summary judgment against a patent infringement suit brought by Big Baboon, Inc. The federal district court in Oakland agreed that the asserted claims of the Big Baboon patent were invalid because the SAP product that Big Baboon accused of infringement was in fact prior art to the Big Baboon patent.
Big Baboon’s lawsuit was filed in 2018. Because the Complaint only vaguely alleged infringement by SAP and HP, Klarquist sought dismissal. The district court agreed but gave Big Baboon the opportunity to amend its complaint only if it named a specific product that allegedly infringed. In response, Big Baboon accused SAP’s “R/3 Release 3.1” of infringement. SAP records showed, however, that the accused R/3 Release 3.1 product was in fact on sale more than one year before Big Baboon filed its patent application and was thus prior art to the patent. By forcing Big Baboon to identify a specific accused product and then using Big Baboon’s accusation as conclusive evidence of invalidity because the product was prior art, Klarquist helped its clients end the case prior to any discovery.
This is the latest suit brought by Big Baboon that Klarquist has helped its clients defeat. In 2009, Big Baboon asserted its two patents against a slew of tech companies, including HP. In 2010, Klarquist initiated ex parte reexaminations against all the asserted claims of those patents, and the district court stayed that 2009 case. The Klarquist reexaminations succeeded, all asserted claims were found unpatentable based on SAP’s own prior art, and the 2009 litigation subsequently dismissed. In 2018, Big Baboon filed the latest lawsuit against SAP and HP, this time asserting other patent claims. With the recent summary judgment decision, all of Big Baboon’s patent claims have now been deemed unpatentable.
Klarquist attorneys J. Christopher Carraway and Klaus H. Hamm represented SAP and HP in this matter. View Judge Gilliam’s summary judgment decision.