Simulab Survives Summary Judgment (Barely) In Surgical Trainer Patent Case

Following up on my recent post about this case involving a patent owned by Simulab Corp. for a surgical trainer (U.S. Patent No. 6,780,016 "Human Surgical Trainer and Methods for Training"), Judge Zilly granted in-part and denied in-part Defendant's motion for summary judgment. In denying part of the motion, Judge Zilly asked for a proffer from Simulab to see if there was a need to go to trial.

Infringement claims based on claim 43 are the only claims that survived summary judgment for now, but these claims face an uncertain future as explained in the Court's order

From Judge Zilly's order:

"Because the Court, however, remains skeptical that Simulab can demonstrate the requisite layer properties and relationships, the Court DIRECTS Simulab to submit an offer of proof within twenty (20) days of the date of this Order. If such offer of proof fails to include admissible evidence that the adhesive layers of Sites 4 and 5 and the film layer of Site 7 are denser and more difficult to dissect than the relevant simulated skin layer, as those relationships have been defined in this Order, the Court will grant partial or full summary judgment in favor of Synbone as to Claim 43."

Simulab%20Order%20on%20MSJ.pdf