Photo Electronics Corporation v. John M. England, Trustee in Bankruptcy for Ferrex Corporation, Photo Electronics Corporation v. Ferrex Corporation

Photo Electronics Corporation sued the Ferrex Corporation for infringement of Patents No. 3,351,707 (’707) and No. 3,471,-740 (’740). Ferrex countered that the patents in suit were obvious, obtained by fraud and not infringed. It counterclaimed that Photo Electronics’ conduct in obtaining the patents and prosecuting the infringement action was violative of the antitrust laws. The district court held the patents valid and infringed, enjoined further infringement, ordered an accounting and dismissed the counterclaim.

Ferrex appealed the finding of liability pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (a)(4) while the accounting proceeded before a magistrate. The district court reviewed and adopted the magistrate’s findings and recommendations and awarded the plaintiff corporation damages of $2,934,800. Again, Ferrex appealed.

We consolidated the appeals, which are not prosecuted by England, Ferrex’s trustee in bankruptcy. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

The patents in suit comprehend an electronic video analyzer for color film negatives. The analyzer is designed to be a relatively inexpensive and maintenance-free device which reports information about the color content of film…