Inequitable Conduct Leads to Invalidation of 5 Packaging Patents, Judge Rules
By Editorial Team
A Massachusetts federal judge ruled on Thursday that five food packaging patents held by Inline Plastics Corp. and asserted against Lacerta Group Inc. are unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. The judge found that Inline Plastics Corp. failed to disclose information about joint inventors during the patent application process.
Inline Plastics Corp. had asserted five patents related to food packaging against Lacerta Group Inc. However, the judge determined that the patents were unenforceable due to the omission of information about joint inventors during the application process.
The patents affected by the ruling are as follows:
- 7,118,003 – Tamper resistant container with tamper-evident feature and method of forming the same
- 7,073,680 – Tamper-resistant container with tamper-evident feature and method of forming the same
- 9,630,756 – Tamper-resistant and tamper evident containers
- 8,795,580 – Methods of manufacturing tamper-resistant and tamper evident containers
- 9,527,640 – Methods of manufacturing tamper-resistant and tamper evident containers
The ruling was made by a Massachusetts federal judge, and the case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Legal representation in the case was provided by law firms Hinckley Allen and McCarter & English.
This ruling serves as a reminder of the importance of full disclosure during the patent application process to avoid issues of inequitable conduct that could lead to the invalidation of patents.
