McGuireWoods recently won a precedential victory on behalf of Belvac Production Machinery, a subsidiary of Dover Corp., in a patent case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In the Dec. 10, 2024, opinion in Crown Packaging Technology Inc., et al. v. Belvac Production Machinery Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of plaintiff-appellant Crown Packaging Technology and declared its patents invalid under a doctrine known as the on-sale bar.
Belvac is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of aluminum can equipment. The plaintiff alleged that technology Belvac used to make aluminum beverage cans infringed the plaintiff’s patents. In the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, McGuireWoods moved for summary judgment, arguing the plaintiff’s patents were invalid because it had offered to sell machines that used the patented technology more than a year before it filed its patent applications. Under the on-sale bar, the Patent Act prohibits the manufacturer from making such offers for sale more than one year before seeking patent protection. The District Court denied Belvac’s motion for summary judgment and granted the plaintiff summary judgment that it had not violated the on-sale bar.
The case proceeded to trial, and on July 8, 2022, after a two-week trial in the District Court, a jury determined that Belvac’s can-making technology did not infringe the asserted patents. The plaintiff appealed the jury’s non-infringement verdict, and Belvac cross-appealed, arguing that the District Court erred in denying Belvac’s motion for summary judgment and that the patents were invalid.
McGuireWoods argued the case before the Federal Circuit on Oct. 9, 2024. On Dec. 10, the Federal Circuit agreed with McGuireWoods and Belvac and held that the plaintiff’s patents were invalid for violating the on-sale bar. The Federal Circuit did not address the issue of non-infringement in the plaintiff’s appeal, leaving the non-infringement verdict intact.
McGuireWoods’ trial team included partners Brian Riopelle and David Finkelson and counsel George Davis. Partner Brian Schmalzbach joined the team for the appellate case, which Finkelson argued before the Federal Circuit. Partner Amanda Wieker and associate Kyle Smith also supported the appellate case.