In STC.UNM v. Intel Corp. 13-1241, STC, a division of the University of New Mexico, and Sandia Corp. co-owned a patent claiming a method for extending the available spatial frequency content of an image. STC filed a lawsuit against Intel for patent infringement. The case was thrown out by the district court because the co-owner of the patent had not joined as a co-plaintiff. The Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s decision based on civil procedure Rule 19(a). The Federal Circuit has since denied an en banc rehearing. This ruling limits the rights of patent co-owners to enforce their rights unless all co-owners voluntarily join in the suit.
Judges Newman, Lourie, O’Malley, and Wallach dissented, noting that the decision does not comport with the rule of law and that patent law should not be exempt from the rules governing all federal litigation without identifying the basis for doing so.
source: Maier & Maier, PLLC
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