Canon and HP blocked from invoking century-old patent doctrine

Technology companies including Canon and HP have been told that they cannot rely on a more than 100-year-old US doctrine to dismiss patent infringement claims.


In a judgment handed down at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge Claudia Wilken said that an earlier victory for the companies at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) would not trigger the so-called Kessler doctrine.


The Kessler doctrine stems from the US Supreme Court’s 1907 ruling Kessler v Eldred in which it ruled that a company that has previously secured a judgment of non-infringement can use that ruling to prevent future claims of infringement.


In the case, which began at the ITC in 2012, California-based company Technology Properties accused Canon and HP, as well online retailer Newegg and electronics company Epson, of importing and selling products that allegedly violated its patents covering memory card readers. In 2013, the ITC said that the defendants’ products did not infringe the patents. The case due to be heard in Texas was transferred to the California district court.