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Patent Law Keyed to Adelman
Ethicon, Inc. v. United States Surgical Corp.
Facts
Yoon (Plaintiff) and his exclusive licensee, Ethicon (Plaintiff), sued Defendant for infringement of Yoon's (Plaintiff) patent regarding trocars. A trocar is an essential tool for endoscopic surgery that makes small incisions in the wall of a body cavity for endoscopic instruments to enter. The patented trocar lessens the danger of damaging internal organs by equipping the trocar with a blunt, spring-loaded rod that springs forward ahead of the blade or springs back into a protective sheath and protects against injury. The patent also teaches the use of an electronic sensor in the end of the blade which signals the surgeon at the moment of puncture. Choi (Defendant), an electronics technician, worked without pay on a project for safety trocars with Yoon (Plaintiff), who is a medical doctor and inventor of many patented devices for endoscopic surgery. After eighteen months of collaboration, their relationship ended. Yoon (Plaintiff) filed an application for a patent that same year for the trocar, naming himself as the sole inventor, without Choi's (Defendant) knowledge. Ethicon (Plaintiff) sued Surgical (Defendant) for patent infringement. Choi (Defendant) intervened and claimed to be an omitted co-inventor of the patent and to have approved a retroactive license to Surgical (Defendant) under the patent. Choi (Defendant) was found by the district court to be an omitted co-inventor and Surgical's (Defendant) motion to dismiss was granted.
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