"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Wednesday affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of AeroVironment, Inc. in a patent infringement suit brought by inventors Paul and David Arlton. The decision held that AeroVironment's affirmative defense under 28 U.S.C. § 1498 covered all of its alleged infringing activities related to the Ingenuity Mars helicopter. AeroVironment cross-appealed the district court's denial of its motion for attorneys' fees."
"The Arltons are the inventors and co-owners of U.S. Patent No. 8,042,763, titled "Rotary Wing Vehicle," which pertains to a rotary wing vehicle with an "elongated tubular backbone" and "a counter-rotating coaxial rotor system." The Arltons licensed the patent to their company, Lite Machines Corporation, which produced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) allegedly embodying the patent. Beginning in 2005, the Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Command awarded contracts to Lite Machines under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs."
The CAFC affirmed summary judgment for AeroVironment, holding that 28 U.S.C. §1498 covered all alleged infringing activities related to the Ingenuity Mars helicopter and that the government-liability defense precluded the patent suit against AeroVironment. The court reasoned that 41 U.S.C. §638 guides the government's award of contracts among private entities while §1498 governs who a patentee must sue and in which court. Inventors Paul and David Arlton co-own U.S. Patent No. 8,042,763 for a rotary wing vehicle; they licensed the patent to Lite Machines, which received SBIR/STTR Phase I and II contracts before losing Phase III work and closing. AeroVironment subcontracted to JPL in 2013 to build a UAV for NASA; AeroVironment cross-appealed the denial of attorneys' fees.
Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law
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