October 14, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SILICON VALLEY -- On October 9, 2008, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals handed Thelen yet another victory in a hard fought patent case. The underlying case was Celerity v. Ultra Clean Technologies.
Thelen LLP client Celerity is a leading manufacturer of gas and chemical processing equipment utilized within the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Through a series of pioneering innovations, Celerity has established itself as the predominant manufacturer of gas processing systems, known in the semiconductor industry as gas panels.
In 2007, competitor Ultra Clean Technologies sought to challenge Celerity's market leadership in this $800 million per year industry by announcing it was about to introduce a new product line, known as the Predator series of gas panels. Ultra Clean had attempted to design around Celerity's patents in developing the Predator product line.
Celerity believed the Predator product line infringed Celerity's patented gas panel technology, which Celerity had earned during its own research and development efforts. When Ultra Clean announced it was planning on bringing the Predator product line to market, Celerity filed suit against Ultra Clean for patent infringement. Celerity hired partner Keith Slenkovich of Thelen's Silicon Valley Office to represent Celerity in these efforts.
In June of 2007, following a three-week trial, a jury for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California found Ultra Clean guilty of infringing one of Celerity's core gas panel patents. The case represented the first successful patent holder verdict following the seminal Supreme Court decision of KSR v. Teleflex. Based on the jury's verdict, the trial court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Ultra Clean from manufacturing or selling the Predator product line.
Ultra Clean appealed the verdict, hoping to overturn the jury verdict and vacate the trial court's permanent injunction against the Predator product line. On October 7, 2009, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals conducted oral argument. Two days later, on October 9, 2007, the Court of Appeals rejected Ultra Clean's appeal, and affirmed the jury and trial court's rulings in all respects. As a result, the permanent injunction against the Predator product line remains in full force.
The appeal to the Federal Circuit was argued on Celerity's behalf by Keith Slenkovich. Christopher Ogden, Karin Cogbill and Tomoni Harkey, all of the Silicon Valley Office, assisted Keith in the briefing before the Federal Circuit.
For more information, contact:
Kevin Livingston
National Manager of Public Relations
Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP
415.369.7224
klivingston@thelen.com
About Thelen
Thelen is an international Am Law 100 law firm and is widely known for its premier practices in the areas of Construction; Corporate/Finance; Energy; cross-border M&A and Complex Litigation. Other premier practice areas of the firm include Labor and Employment, Intellectual Property, Bankruptcy, Domestic and International Tax, and Employee Benefits.
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