Kucharczyk
Kucharczyk v. Regents of the University of California
Opinion
Opinion
Breyer, J.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiffs John Kucharczyk and Michael Moseley have filed suit against UC Regents and the Nycomed defendants (Ny-comed Salutar and Nycomed Imaging A.S., collectively “Nycomed”), alleging that they acted to improperly deprive plaintiffs of their rightful share of the financial rewards of a patented medical technique they developed. A number of summary judgment motions are presently before the Court.
BACKGROUND
A. The Patent
The dispute arises out of the invention of a particular kind of magnetic resonance imaging technique (“MRI”). MRI is a process whereby physicians obtain an image of an internal part of the body in a way that allows them to discover a contrast between healthy and diseased tissues. This contrast is enhanced through the use of “contrast agents” that are injected into the patients undergoing MRI.
One particular type of magnetic resonance imaging is “perfusion MRI,” which is a technique for detecting and determining the extent of blood flow in body tissues, and thereby detecting the presence of any blood flow abnormalities. Plaintiffs invented a particular method for conducting perfusion MRI, which was ultimately patented as U.S. Patent No.…