Castillo

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Albecker v. Contour Prods., Inc., No. 09 C 6312, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. May 3, 2010) (Castillo, J.).
Judge Castillo construed the claims in this patent case involving a wedge-shaped backrest and legless leisure chair. Of particular interest, the Court construed the following terms:
“Secured to” was defined as “attached using attachment means” that connect a type cushion to a foundation. The “secured to” definition excluded unitary top cushion foundations. The fact that the Court’s definition excluded one embodiment because that embodiment was part of a restriction requirement; and
“face of the generally wedge shaped foundation” was not properly briefed, but the Court held that the face was top surface.
The Court declined to construe other claim terms because the parties told the Court that the construed terms were the key terms.
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Continue Reading Claims Need Not Be Construed to Encourage an Embodiment that was Part of a Restriction Requirement

Here are a few stories that do not warrant a full post:
* The mainstream media and the blogosphere are buzzing with predictions of who is on President Obama’s shortlist for replacing Justice Souter The Northern District’s Judge Castillo and the Seventh Circuit’s Judge Wood are both making many of the lists — check out one list at the Daily Writ. Both excellent choices. Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about a local expectation that someone connected to the University of Chicago would be appointed to the Supreme Court during the Obama presidency. I also wonder if the Northern District’s Judge St. Eve is or should be on some shortlists.
* Ronald Slusky is bringing his two-day patent claim drafting seminar to Chicago May 19-20. Slusky promises to teach “a comprehensive approach to analyzing inventions and capturing them in a sophisticated set of patent claims. Through this interactive seminar, participants will enhance their skills in a classroom setting.” I have not attended Slusky’s seminar myself, so I cannot speak to its value, but it definitely looks interesting.
* Last week the House held hearings about the Patent Reform Act. Check out some commentary on the hearings at Patently-O.
* I got out of the habit of posting each week’s Blawg Review, but last week’s was both too good and too unique to pass up. Blawg Review #209 is up at John Hochfelder’s New York Injury Cases Blog (another LexBlog site) — read it here. Hochfelder tells the moving story of his father’s life, the life of an American hero. Blawg Review #210 is also available at the China Law Blog — click here to read it. It is also an excellent Review based loosely on the 90th anniversary of China’s May 4th Movement.
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Continue Reading Patent News: Patent Reform & Supreme Court Shortlist

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. v. Guerrero, No. 08 C 2752, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 19, 2009) (Castillo, J.).
Judge Castillo granted plaintiff summary judgment as to defendants’ declaratory judgment counterclaim in this trademark, copyright and contract dispute. Plaintiff licensed its content, including certain copyright and trademark rights, to defendants for use in an online Spanish-language reference site. Because a third party did not provide certain additional content required by the parties’ agreement, plaintiff exercised an option to terminate the parties’ license agreement and attempted to exercise a purchase option provided for in the agreement. Defendants, however, argued that the agreement did not allow exercise of the purchase agreement for a six year period, which had not yet passed. The Court held that a dispute over the meaning of a contract clause did not necessarily make a contract ambiguous. The Court determined that while the Agreement could be read to support either party, the intent of the agreement was to allow for immediate purchase by plaintiff in the event of termination, regardless of whether or not the termination occurred after the six year period.
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Continue Reading Court Grants Summary Judgment Regarding Ambiguous Contract Term

Helferich Patent Licensing v. ASUStek Computer Inc., No. 08 C 5189, Min. Order (N.D. Ill. Sep. 22, 2008) (Castillo, J.)
Judge Castillo sua sponte dismissed without prejudice plaintiff’s patent infringement complaint. The Court held that defendants were foreign entities without business entities in the Northern District. The Court allowed plaintiff to proceed with expedited jurisdictional discovery, and gave plaintiff until December 15 to refile an amended complaint, if they could, with more facts supporting jurisdiction and venue. The Court did not cite the Supreme Court’s Twombly decision regarding Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 pleading standards in its brief opinion. But this decision could flow from Twombly’s plausibility pleading standards.
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Continue Reading Court Dismisses Case Sua Sponte for Lack of Jurisdictional Facts

SMC Corp., Ltd. v. Lockjaw, LLC, __ F. Supp.2d __, 2007 WL 983850 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 3, 2007) (Castillo, J.).

Judge Castillo granted plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, enjoining defendants from breaching the parties’ agreement, unless plaintiff acted in a manner triggering the agreement’s termination provision, and from contacting plaintiff’s customers for any purpose without plaintiff’s consent.  Plaintiff was the exclusive distributor of defendants’ patented Lockjaw pliers in certain Western European countries.  For about eighteen months, plaintiff’s distributed defendants’ pliers without incident.  But then defendants altered payment terms, which was their right if they followed certain procedures.  Plaintiff alleges that defendants did not follow those procedures and based on this dispute the relationship appears to have broken down.  Shortly after defendants altered the payment terms, plaintiff filed this suit seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that the agreement is binding and enforceable, and that defendants breached the agreement.  Plaintiff also sought an injunction to prevent the defendants from terminating the agreement and/or contacting plaintiff’s customers.  Relying upon the UCC, the Court found that plaintiff had a likelihood of success on the merits based upon, among other things, the fact that its brief (and cured) nonpayment for two shipments likely did not constitute a breach of the agreement.Continue Reading Harm to Goodwill is Potentially Irreparable, Justifying Preliminary Injunction

Kenall Mfg. Co. v. Genlyte Thomas Group LLC, 439 F. Supp.2d 854 (N.D. Ill. July 20, 2006) (Castillo, J.).

Judge Castillo denied opposing infringement and invalidity summary judgment motions in this very detailed and thorough opinion. The opinion is most remarkable for its illustration of two basic, but important, practice tips, which are best understood from the following excerpts:

The only thing that the multitude of summary judgment motions and expert reports filed in this hotly-disputed patent case make clear is that multiple issues of material fact remain to be determined. Instead of moving this case toward a timely resolution, the parties are driving up the costs of litigation with superfluous briefing that has repeatedly failed to abide by this Court’s local rules.

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This case has been poorly litigated up to this point. By failing to file a 56.1 statement of facts and by failing to respond to Genlyte’s 56.1 statement, Kenall’s attorneys have come dangerously close to losing this case for their client based on nothing but their own ineptitude. On the other side, both Genlyte and Kenall have fanned the flame of excessive and superfluous briefing with arguments for unfeasible claim construction and a litany of expert reports that show nothing but material issues of facts. The parties have now spent tens of thousands of dollars on seven expert reports and extensive briefing of three separate motions for summary judgment to prove to this Court that this case is certainly not appropriate for resolution on summary judgment.

Continue Reading Local Rule 56.1 Rears Its Ugly Head Again