I will periodically post case citations from the Federal Circuit along with the date of the opinion/order and a brief list of the legal topics discussed therein (specifically those with additional embedded case law citations). My goal is to post new cases on a weekly basis. This posting covers the patent cases that were appealed from the district court level and decided by the Federal Circuit during the third calendar week of 2007. All opinions are precedential unless otherwise indicated.

Transclean Corporation et al. v. Jiffy Lube International, Inc., et al (01/18/2007): appeal of grant of summary judgment precluding the prevailing party in a patent infringement action from pursuing infringement actions against customers of the infringer, discussion of patent relating to automatic transmission fluid changing machine (U.S. Patent No. 5,318,080, “Transmission fluid changer”), doctrine of claim preclusion preventing a second suit (separate argument from the doctrine of full compensation), elements of the doctrine of claim preclusion, issue of privity regarding infringing user of device and customer of infringing user of device, court raising claim preclusion issue sua sponte benefiting defaulting defendants

Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc. v. Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. (01/19/2007): appeal of grant of summary judgment for non-infringement, discussion of patent relating to combination of two analgesics (tramadol and acetaminophen, U.S. Patent No. 5,336,691, “Composition comprising a tramadol material and acetaminophen and its use”), claim construction of the phrase “about 5:1” pertaining to pharmaceutical composition ratios, infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, expert testimony to define range of ratios