Pfizer, Inc. v. International Rectifier Corporation

685 F.2d 357 217 U.S.P.Q. 39 PFIZER, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER CORPORATION, Rachelle Laboratories Italia, S.p.A., Rachelle Laboratories, Inc., Rachelle Pharmaceuticals International, S.A., Defendants-Appellants. No. 81-5227. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Aug. 4, 1982. Decided Aug. 26, 1982. Rehearing Denied Sopt. 30, 1982. Myron Cohen, Hubbell, Cohen, Stiefel & Gross, New York City, for defendants-appellants. Robert E. Cooper, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before ELY, GOODWIN, and WALLACE, Circuit Judges. ELY, Circuit Judge: 1 Essentially upon the basis of the findings of fact and the carefully reasoned opinion of the District Judge, reported at --- F.Supp. ----, 207 U.S.P.Q. 397 (C.D.Cal.1980), we affirm the judgment upholding the validity of Pfizer's Patent No. 3,200,149. 2 A word here is proper, however, concerning the scope of the concept of materiality in determinations of whether a party's withholding of information from the Patent Office constitutes a fraud or inequitable conduct…