Feit Elec. Co., Inc. v. CFL Techs. LLC, No. 13 C 9339, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 20, 2019) (Coleman, J.).

Judge Coleman granted declaratory judgment plaintiff Feit’s motion for reconsideration of the Court’s grant of summary judgement that declaratory judgment defendant CFL’s ‘464 patent was unenforceable  based upon issue preclusion from a prior inequitable conduct determination.

An interlocutory appeal was appropriate for the following reason:

  • The issue was purely legal, not requiring an extensive review of the record;
  • The issue of whether the change of law provision applied in this case was different based upon which Federal Circuit case law was applied. As such, it was contestable;
  • An interlocutory appeal would expedite the litigation because both parties agreed that settlement was stalled by a lack of clarity on the issues; and
  • The request for interlocutory appeal was timely filed because moved within about a month of the Court’s underlying decision.