Foley Wins Cross-Border Patent Infringement Case

Foley announced today it has secured a victory for client Synbias Pharma, a Ukrainian pharmaceutical company, in a patent infringement case.

Solux Corporation, a San Diego based company, had threatened Synbias’s customers with patent infringement litigation, pointing to patents on inventions made by Synbias’s inventors. Foley filed an action in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego seeking declarations that the patents are not infringed and are invalid. Solux responded, unsurprisingly, with counterclaims for patent infringement. Foley subsequently moved for early summary judgment on the basis that Synbias is at least a co-owner of the patents and, therefore, Solux cannot assert infringement against Synbias or its customers. The U.S. District Court granted Foley’s motion on August 30, 2013, ruling that Synbias is at least a co-owner of the patents and dismissing Solux’s counterclaims for patent infringement.

The court’s written decision is remarkable as it is one of the few decisions in United States patent law to resolve disputed issues of foreign law (in this case Ukrainian law) in determining ownership of U.S. patents. The case highlights Foleyr’s capability to handle high stakes sophisticated cross-border IP litigation. The Foley team included Partners Matt Lowrie, Sven Riethmueller, Kevin Littman, Max Chester and Ric Henschel.