Deborah M Manchester v. Sivantos GMBH

I. INTRODUCTION

19 Presently before the Court are Motions for Summary Judgment filed by 20 Defendants AuralCare Hearing Centers of America’s (“AuralCare”) and David Larsen 21 (AuralCare Motion For Summary Judgment, (“AuralCare Mot.”), ECF No. 438), as 22 well as Sivantos, Inc. and Sivantos GMBH. (Sivantos Motion for Summary Judgment 23 (“Sivantos Mot.”), ECF No. 446.) For the reasons that follow, the Motions are

GRANTED.

25

27 1 After carefully considering the papers filed in connection with the Motion, the Court deemed the 28 matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; C.D. Cal. L.R. 7-15. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Deborah M. Manchester, Ph.D., invented a tele-audiology technology called 3 “HARP.” (Second Amended Compl. (“SAC”) ¶ 21, ECF No. 66.) HARP allows an audiologist to access hearing aids remotely and adjust them 5 according to the patient’s needs. (Id. ¶ 22.) It uses Bluetooth technology and is the 6 subject of three patent applications filed by Manchester. (Id. ¶¶ 24, 29–31.) Manchester 7 claims this technology “opens the door to increased global hearing aid sales…