Federal Circuit Again Finds in Favor of SMC in Landmark Festo Case

For Immediate Release
July 2007

Alexandria, Va. – The U.S. Court Of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has affirmed the Massachusetts district court’s judgment in favor of SMC Corp. of lack of infringement of Festo Corporation’s U.S. Patent No. 4,354,125. The July 5, 2007 ruling determined that prosecution history estoppel applied because Festo failed to rebut the Supreme Court’s presumption that SMC’s accused equivalent was foreseeable. This nearly 20-year long landmark patent infringement dispute between SMC and Festo included two Supreme Court and five Federal Circuit decisions, two of which were en banc.

“SMC is, of course, pleased with this decision” said Arthur I. Neustadt, a name partner at Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., and the lead counsel for SMC who successfully argued this case before the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit.

The CAFC ruling, which includes a history of this case, is available upon request.

Assisting clients for more than 35 years, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., in Alexandria, Va., is one of the largest intellectual property firms in the United States. The firm provides a full range of intellectual property services, including litigation matters in all courts, the International Trade Commission, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The firm also continues to have the largest patent prosecution practice and one of the largest trademark prosecution practices in the country.