Tag Archives: declaratory judgment

When a patent owner sues another for infringement, the patent owner must prove infringement.  The Supreme Court ruled on January 22, 2014, in Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC, that this burden of proof still applies when a patent licensee sues the patent owner for a declaratory judgment that certain products do not infringe the patent and therefore do not fall under the license. Medtronic had a license to certain defibrillator patents owned by Mirowski.  Years after the initial license agreement, Medtronic sought a declaratory judgment that its newer products did not infringe the patents (so Medtronic could avoid   Read More »