Patent Law Practice Center

Federal Circuit Reiterates Importance of Evidence of Direct Infringement

Brandon Baum, partner in Mayer Brown and Practice Center Contributor, passed along this analysis on the Federal Circuit decision Fujitsu Ltd. v. Netgear Inc.

The Federal Circuit has reiterated the importance of patent plaintiffs providing proof of direct infringement by end-users to establish indirect infringement by equipment suppliers.  In Fujitsu Ltd. v. Netgear Inc., the patents-in-suit allegedly covered an aspect of the wireless communication protocols promulgated by the IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance for IEEE 802.11 networking (“802.11 Standard”).  Plaintiffs Fujitsu, LG Electronics and U.S. Philips Corporation each held patents “essential” to the 802.11 Standard, which they licensed through a patent pool.  Philips’ patent purported to cover the 802.11 Standard’s message “fragmentation” protocol. 

Plaintiffs sued Netgear, alleging that its 802.11 Standard-compliant products indirectly infringed the patents-in-suit.  Pertinent to this article, Philips accused 260 Netgear products of implementing the patented fragmentation protocol, and therefore contributing to and inducing direct infringement by end-users of those products.  (more…)