James R. Alburger v. Magnaflux Corporation

1. The court adheres to its earlier order denying appellee’s motion to dismiss the appeal.

2. The judgment of the District Court holding the patent in suit invalid (as based upon prior public knowledge and use and anticipation) and not infringed is affirmed. Judgment is supported by the findings of fact made by the District Court, which, in turn, are supported by the evidence and cannot be held clearly erroneous.

3. Judgment of the District Court awarding appellee attorney fees in the sum of $50,000 is reversed.

Attorney fees are awarded in patent infringement suits only in “exceptional cases,” 35 U.S.C. § 285 . Appellee seeks to justify the award in this case on the ground that appellant’s infringement suit was brought in bad faith. We believe the record does not support this contention, and we cannot escape the conviction that appellant sincerely (albeit mistakenly and perhaps obstinately) believes in his invention and its entitlement to a patent.

The issue of fraud on the patent office was not tried and was raised only after trial on appellee’s petition for attorney fees. In addition, it bears noting that the patent office did have the DeForest Patent before it and was thus…