Ormco Corp. v. ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Proceedings: Defendant’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law (filed June 25, 2009)

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Ormco Corp. (“Ormco”) filed the instant action against defendant Align Technology, Inc. (“Align”) on January 6, 2003, alleging that Align is infringing three related Ormco patents: (1) U.S. Patent No. 5,447,432 (“the '432 patent”); (2) U.S. Patent No. 5,683,243 (“the '243 patent”); and (3) U.S. Patent No. 6,244,861 (“the '861 patent”). Ormco later amended its complaint to allege infringement of a fourth patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,616,444 (“the '444 patent”).

On May 13, 2004, the Court granted Align’s motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of Ormco’s patents. See Ormco Corp. v. Align Technology, Inc., 498 F.3d 1307, 1311 (Fed.Cir.2007), citing Ormco Corp. v. Align Tech., Inc., No. 03-ev-00016 slip. op. (C.D.Cal. May 13, 2004). On August 20, 2004, the Court granted Align’s motion for summary judgment of nonenablement of Ormco’s patents. See id., citing Ormco Corp. v. Align Tech., Inc., No. 03-cv-00016, slip, op., 2004 WL 5453218 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 20, 2004).

Ormco appealed to the Federal Circuit. On August 24, 2007, the Federal Circuit affirmed the…