DSU Medical Corp. v. JMS Co., Ltd.

Good Law

296 F. Supp. 2d 1140·2003 WL 23000541·2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21660

United States District Court, Northern District of CaliforniaOctober 31, 2003C-99-2690-DLJ, C-00-1826-DLJCalifornia8,719 words

Opinion

Jensen, J.

ORDER

On September 10 and 12, 2003 the Court conducted a Daubert-Kumho “gatekeeper” hearing as to the proffered expert testimony of plaintiffs witness Dr. Robert Deg-nan. William O’Brien of O’Melveny and Myers appeared for the Plaintiffs, Vincent Belusko appeared for the Defendants. As a result of the hearing the Court enters the following order.

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

United States Patent No. 5,211,311 (the ’311 patent) was issued on May 12, 1992 and is owned by DSU Medical Sys- terns Corp. (DSU). The ’311 patent was invented by David S. Utterberg (Utter-berg) and Neil J. Sheehan. Utterberg is the sole owner of DSU and a related entity, Medisystems Corp. (Medisystems). Medisystems is a manufacturer and distributor of medical products including commercial embodiments of the ’311 patent.

The ’311 patent relates to needle guards — devices which are combined with needles used in medical procedures. When health care professionals use hollow-bore needles to carry out various procedures involving blood, there is a risk of accidental needle sticks. Focus on this risk has grown with the onset of AIDS. Needle guards are devices attached to the needle sets themselves…

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