A judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon has granted GlasWeld’s motions to strike several of Mike Boyle and Christopher Boyle’s affirmative defenses in the alleged patent infringement case and ordered that Christopher Boyle’s answer to the complaint and his attached exhibits be placed under seal and designated as confidential. The judge also denied Christopher Boyle’s motion to strike and granted his motion to reset the scheduling order.
“The court previously granted plaintiff’s motion to strike such [affirmative] defenses from Mike Boyle’s answer to plaintiff’s original complaint and for the same reasons, plaintiff’s motions to strike are granted,” writes Judge Ann Aiken in her decision.
“Plaintiff also moves to strike exhibits 4 and 5 attached to Christopher Boyle’s answer, or, alternatively, to seal the answer and designate the exhibits ‘confidential.’ I find the latter option appropriate and the answer and exhibits shall be sealed,” she continued.
Next, the judge addressed Christopher Boyle’s motion to dismiss the claims against him for “failure to state a claim.”
“… Plaintiff’s allegations state claims for patent infringement and unfair competition; specifically, plaintiff alleges that Christopher Boyle makes, uses and/or sells products which embody claims of the ‘180 and ‘372 patents, and that defendants’ actions and misappropriation of its client list constitutes unfair competition,” the judge points out in her decision.
“Finally, Christopher Boyle moves for new deadlines in this case,” she adds. “I agree that an updated scheduling order is warranted, particularly when Mike Boyle has been appointed counsel. The parties are ordered to confer and submit a proposed scheduling order and Joint Alternate Dispute Resolution (JADR) report.”
The judge gave the parties 30 days to submit a proposed scheduling order and JADR report.
The patents referenced in the complaint are U.S. patent No. 5,670,180 (`180 patent), “Laminated Glass and Windshield Repair Device,” and U.S. patent No. 6,898,372 (`372), “Lamp System for Curing Resin in Glass,” issued to GlasWeld in September 1997 and May 2005, respectively. While Mike Boyle was named as an inventor on the `372 patent, GlasWeld officials allege that he assigned all of his rights of ownership to the company and “has no right to practice the technology claimed in the `372 patent.”
GlasWeld filed a lawsuit against Mike Boyle in 2012 alleging patent infringement and later added Christopher Boyle, Mike’s son, to the complaint.
