Precedential Federal Circuit Opinions
In Re PERSONALWEB TECHNOLOGIES LLC [OPINION] (2019-1918, 6/17/20) (Wallach, Bryson, Taranto)
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Bryson, J. Affirming summary judgment that prior with-prejudice dismissal of patent suit against supplier protected the supplier’s customers from future patent actions. “Contrary to [patentee’s] assertions, the rule we apply here will not interfere with the ability of parties to resolve patent disputes. To the extent that a plaintiff wishes to settle an infringement action while preserving its rights to sue the same or other parties in the future, it can do so by framing the dismissal agreement to preserve any such rights that the defendant is willing to agree to. Settling parties will remain free to limit the preclusive effect of a dismissal; they simply have to fashion their agreement in a way that makes clear any limitations to which they wish to agree as to the downstream effect of the dismissal… We therefore reject [patentee’s] contention that the issue of non-infringement must be ‘actually litigated’ in order to invoke the Kessler doctrine. [Patentee’s] stipulated dismissal with prejudice in the Texas case operated as an adjudication on the merits for claim preclusion purposes.”
