Law360 reported that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin granted Novozymes’ post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law in a patent infringement case brought against Novozymes by U.S. Water Services. The claimed technology concerns use of the enzyme phytase to control chemical deposits that interfere with the production of fuel ethanol from corn.
The court invalidated all of U.S. Water’s asserted patent claims, concluding that they were inherently anticipated by an earlier Novozymes invention. This decision comes after jurors in October 2017 had found the patents were valid and that Novozymes owed $7.58 million for infringement, Law360 reported. That jury verdict has now been set aside.
“Novozymes met its burden to show that the patents-in-suit were anticipated. No reasonable view of the evidence supports the jury’s verdict on this point,” the court wrote, according to Law360.
Novozymes is represented by Fenwick patent litigation partner David Tellekson and associates Ewa Davison, Ph.D., Elizabeth Hagan, Ph.D., Amy Hayden, Ph.D., and Jonathan McMichael.
The full article is available on Law360 (subscription required).