Henry J. Enders, on Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated v. American Patent Search Company

Enders, an inventor, brought this class action for restitution, punitive damages and injunctive relief against several patent search companies and individuals allegedly associated with these companies. Enders claims to have been damaged by the defendants’ alleged violation of 35 U.S.C. § 33 , which provides:

He asserts that a private civil remedy in his favor can be implied from the statute. The issue before us is whether the district court had jurisdiction to entertain the claim.

The defendants are Blasius (the alleged ringleader of the enterprises), several companies allegedly acting as “fronts” for Blasius and several employees or associates of Blasius who allegedly participated in these enterprises. These companies advertised in nationwide publications soliciting ideas or inventions from inventors. Enders had dealings with some of these companies. He claimed that after conducting a patent search at the inquiring inventor’s expense, these companies would send the inventor a letter indicating that the idea was patentable. The letter would propose that the inventor hire the company to prepare a patent application to be filed by the inventor. The complaint alleged that…