Preliminary Injunction in Tacoma Lantern Case Reversed by the CAFC

Note: This post was modified on 3/27/2008 to reflect the fact that the opinion is nonprecedential.

In this case for infringement of US 7,118,245, the USDC, WDWA in Tacoma granted the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction on July 3, 2007. In ordering the preliminary injunction, the district court (Judge Burgess) noted that expert testimony provided that the accused device was "identical in all respects (within + or - .005) to the Patented Device, except that the Accused Device lacked the ‘plurality of ports’ in the reflector that would allow the central light to augment the lateral light." Additionally, the district court briefly discussed a covenant not to compete between the parties, concluding that "because a serious question has been raised on the issue of the Covenant Not To Compete . . . another basis for preserving the status quo pending final resolution of the issue has been shown."

Today in a nonprecedential opinion authored by Judge Prost and joined by Judges Rader and Schall, the CAFC reversed finding that substantial questions existed as to whether the accused devices infringed under a doctrine of equivalents analysis, and that even if the covenant not to compete were enforceable, it had expired.