On August 3, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a summary judgment decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas holding that Burke’s Tri-Flex II bed did not infringe SafeTCare’s US Patent Number 6,357,065.
The Federal Circuit, which handles patent appeals from Federal District Courts all around the county, agreed with the District Court that, as a matter of law, there was no literal infringement and also no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. Because there was no infringement, there was no need for the courts to address the additional issue of whether SafeTCare’s patent was valid in view of the prior art located by Burke.
Following the Court’s decision, DuWayne Kramer, President of Burke, stated that: “We are pleased that the Federal Circuit has now confirmed our longstanding view that the Tri-Flex II bed does not infringe SafeTCare’s patent. We look forward to continuing to market the innovative, class leading Tri-Flex II bed, free from the distraction of this unnecessary litigation.”
