Scosche Industries, Inc. v. Visor Gear IncorporatedScosche Industries, Inc. v. Visor Gear Incorporated
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- Before:
- Bryson
This case began when appellant Scosche Industries, Inc., filed an action in the United States District Court for the Central District of California seeking a declaratory judgment that a design patent owned by appellee Visor Gear, Inc., is invalid and that Scosche’s products do not infringe Visor Gear’s patent. Scosche also sought damages for acts of alleged unfair competition by Visor Gear. After Visor Gear filed a counterclaim alleging patent infringement, Scosche made an offer of judgment with respect to the infringement allegations in the counterclaim. Visor Gear accepted Scosche’s offer of judgment and the district court entered the agreed-upon judgment, thus terminating the infringement portion of the case. The district court subsequently granted Visor Gear’s motion for summary judgment on the remaining issues. The court held that Scosche’s invalidity claim was barred by the offer of judgment and that the unfair competition claim was without merit because Visor Gear had acted lawfully in protecting its patent rights. We vacate the summary judgment order with respect to the invalidity claim but affirm it with respect to the unfair competition claim and remand the ease to the district court.
I
Scosche and Visor Gear manufacture compact disc holders that are designed to attach to the sun visor of a vehicle so that the driver or passenger can store and gain access to compact discs while traveling. In September 1995, Visor Gear obtained U.S. Pat. Des. No. 362,159 (the ’159 patent) on a design for a compact disc holder. Shortly after the 159 patent issued, Scosche filed a declaratory judgment action claiming (1) that the patent was invalid, and (2) that Visor Gear had engaged in unfair competition by threatening Scosche’s customers, sales representatives, and distributors with patent infringement litigation and by making false and injurious statements about Scosche. Visor Gear counterclaimed, charging Scosche with infringement of the 159 patent.
After approximately five months of discovery, Scosche made an offer of judgment under
To allow a judgement to be taken against [Scosche] for the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00) in full and complete satisfaction of each and all claims for relief asserted in the Counterclaim set forth in paragraphs 37 through 47 of thepleading entitled “ANSWER, AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, AND COUNTERCLAIMS OF DEFENDANT VISOR GEAR, INCORPORATED TO COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL” on file herein.
Visor Gear accepted the offer of judgment on April 22, 1996. It then requested that the court enter a judgment finding that Scosche had engaged in willful infringement, directing the payment of $500 in damages, and issuing a permanent injunction prohibiting Scosche from making, selling, or distributing a number of identified Scosche products, or otherwise
infringing
the ’159 patent. Visor Gear argued that by offering judgment on the infringement counterclaim, Scosche had admitted liability, had abandoned any available defenses, and had admitted the allegations in the paragraphs of the counterclaim referred to in the offer of judgment. Accordingly, Visor Gear argued, Scosche had effectively admitted not only that it had infringed the ’159 patent, but also that its infringement was willful and that the patent was not invalid. Scosche opposed Visor Gear’s request for an expanded judgment. It argued that under
The court entered the
1. In full and complete satisfaction of each and all claims for relief asserted in Visor Gear’s Counterclaim set forth in paragraphs 34-47 of the pleading entitled “ANSWER, AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, AND COUNTERCLAIMS OF DEFENDANT VISOR GEAR, INCORPORATED TO COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL” on file herein, Visor Gear shall recover of Scosche the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00).
2. Each party shall bear its own attorney’s fees.
3.This Court shall retain jurisdiction over this matter for purposes of enforcing this judgment.
Several weeks later, Visor Gear moved for summary judgment on Scosehe’s claims of unfair competition and patent invalidity. As to invalidity, Visor Gear again argued that the offer of judgment resolved that issue because it constituted an admission by Scosche that it was liable for infringing the ’159 patent and thus in effect acknowledged the validity of the patent. As to the unfair competition claim, Visor Gear argued that Scosche’s evidence was in large part inadmissible and that Scosche had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to the lawfulness of Visor Gear’s conduct toward Scosehe’s customers, distributors, and sales representatives. Scosche responded that the
The district court granted Visor Gear’s motion for summary judgment on all the remaining issues in the case. As to the issue of patent invalidity, the court concluded that “Scosche’s offer of judgment on the counterclaim and Visor Gear’s acceptance thereof, resolved the issue of both patent infringement and patent validity. Patent validity was raised in both the counterclaim and the counter-defendant’s affirmative defenses, if any, and entry of judgment in Visor Gear’s favor conclusively resolves those issues.” As to the unfair competition allegations, the court concluded that Seosche’s claim must fail because, “in light of the validity of Visor Gear’s patent, Visor Gear’s efforts to protect its patent rights cannot constitute unfair competition.”
II
The invalidity issue requires us to decide what scope should be accorded to the
Visor Gear presents this issue as one of claim preclusion, but the principles of claim preclusion have nothing to do with this case. The question here is not whether a final judgment in one case should be given preclusive effect in a later case, which is the situation to which the principles of claim preclusion apply.
See Nevada v. United States,
Because a
Like consent decrees,
In light of those principles, the
In ascertaining the scope that should be accorded to the
In
Foster v. Hallco Mfg. Co.,
Ill
As to the unfair competition claim, we take a different view. With respect to that part of Seosche’s complaint, we conclude that the district court correctly granted summary judgment because Scosche did not offer sufficient evidence, in admissible form, to create a genuine issue of material fact under the California law of unfair competition.
See
In its response to Visor Gear’s motion for summary judgment, Scosche argued that Visor Gear had engaged in three discrete acts of unfair competition: engaging in improper communications with Tandy Corporation, a Scosche customer, prior to the issuance of the ’159 patent; initiating improper contacts with Scosche customers and distributors after the issuance of the patent; and making false statements to a representative of Best Buy, another Scosche customer, in 1996. The evidence that Scosche offered with respect to each of those acts, however, was insufficient to avoid summary judgment.
A
The letter that Visor Gear’s attorneys sent to Tandy Corporation in February 1995, before the T59 patent issued, stated that Visor Gear was responding to a concern expressed by Tandy that Scosehe’s compact disc holder is “virtually identical” to Visor Gear’s and that “Scosche may have patent rights in their product.” The letter explained that after filing its patent application,
Scosche’s evidence with respect to Visor Gear’s contact with Tandy is insufficient to raise a triable issue of unfair competition under applicable law. The letter accurately set forth the status of Visor Gear’s patent application and expressed Visor Gear’s belief that the Scosche product would infringe the patent once the patent issued. Scosche offered no evidence from which a factfinder could conclude that Visor Gear’s representation was made in bad faith, and Seosche points to no authority holding that it is unfair competition for a patent applicant to advise a prospective customer of the status of his pending patent application and of the applicant’s belief that competing goods will infringe the patent if and when it issues.
The only authorities that Scosche invokes in support of its argument with respect to the Tandy letter are
Gardiner v. Gendel,
In
Gardiner,
the counterclaim defendants did not simply advise their competitor’s customers of the pendency of their patent application, but told the customers that they were then infringing the defendants’ “patent rights.” In addition, the defendants stated that they “have and continue to vigorously enforce their patent rights,” and they threatened suit unless the customers provided assurances that they would immediately cease manufacturing, using, or selling the allegedly infringing products.
See
The
Mixing Equipment
case is distinguishable on similar grounds. In that ease, the district court denied a motion to dismiss an unfair competition claim on the pleadings. In so doing, the court noted that an announcement that a device is covered by an unissued patent can constitute unfair competition.
See
Moreover, there is nothing wrong with Visor Gear’s offering indemnification against a claim of infringement by Scosche and providing an express warranty against a claim of infringement by Seosche. In that context, contrary to Scosche’s contention, we find nothing insidious or otherwise improper in Visor Gear’s reference to the implied warranty that goods sold by a merchant regularly dealing in those goods are delivered free of any rightful claim of any third person by way of infringement.
In a declaration submitted in opposition to the summary judgment motion, Seosche’s president Roger Alves stated that a Tandy representative had told him that Tandy had decided not to purchase Scosche’s compact disc holders because “Visor Gear was harassing Tandy Corpora
B
Following the issuance of the ’159 patent, Visor Gear contacted several Scosche distributors by letter and advised them of Visor Gear’s belief that Scosche’s compact disc holders infringed the patent. A followup letter was sent to distributors who did not respond to the first letter. The follow-up letter demanded that the distributors cease all sales of the infringing Scosche product and advised that Visor Gear regarded the continued sale of infringing products to be willful infringement.
There is nothing improper about a patentee’s attempting to enforce its rights under the patent by advising potential infringers of its good faith belief that a particular product infringes.
See Mallinckrodt, Inc. v. Medipart, Inc.,
C
Finally, Scosche argues that Visor Gear engaged in unfair competition by making false statements to a representative of Best Buy, one of Scosche’s customers. In his declaration, Alves reported that a Best Buy representative had told him that Visor Gear’s president had stated “that Visor Gear had won a lawsuit against Scosche and that Scosche would no longer be allowed to make their VLA-VISOR product.” Alves reported
Visor Gear objected to that evidence as hearsay, which it clearly is. “To be acceptable at summary judgment stage, the evidence presented in the affidavit must be evidence that would be admissible if presented at trial through the testimony of the affiant as a sworn witness.” 11 James Wm. Moore,
Moore’s Federal Practice
§ 56.14[l][d], at 56-162 (3d ed.1997). Because the statements attributed to the Best Buy representative would not have been admissible if presented at trial through Alves’ testimony,
Apart from the statements attributed to the Best Buy representative and reported in Alves’ declaration, Scosche offered no evidence on which a judgment of unfair competition could be entered in its favor based on Visor Gear’s contacts with Best Buy. Summary judgment was therefore properly granted with respect to those allegations.
IV
Scosche’s final contention is that the district court acted precipitously in granting Visor Gear’s motion for summary judgment, and that pursuant to
In the portion of Scosche’s
Scosche did not notice Singh’s deposition until more than five months after the complaint was filed. When Visor Gear advised Scosche’s cohnsel that Singh was unavailable on the date noticed for the deposition, Scosche asked Visor Gear to propose other dates on which Singh could be made available. The record does not reflect that Visor Gear responded to that request. In any event, Scosche took no further steps over the next three months to obtain Singh’s deposition, either by noticing his deposition for another date or moving to compel Singh’s appearance. Under these circumstances, we decline to rule that the district court abused its discretion by deciding the summary judgment motion before Singh had been deposed.
Each party shall bear its own costs for this appeal.
It is not enough to say, as Visor Gear does, that invalidity is a defense to a charge of infringement, and that by offering judgment on the issue of infringement, Scosche abandoned its defense of invalidity. There is no doubt that Scosche has waived its right to raise the defense of invalidity in connection with the issue of past infringement, for which Scosche has agreed to a judgment of
AFFIRMED-IN-PART, VACATED-IN-PART, and REMANDED.