Yesterday the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Pequignot v. Solo Cup Company, No. 2009-1547 (Fed. Cir. Jun. 10, 2010), providing some much needed guidance on avoiding liability under the “false marking” statute, 35 U.S.C. § 292. Although it did find that marking of products with expired patent numbers could give rise to a violation of the false marking statute, the Federal Circuit found Solo Cup was not liable for its marking of products with expired patent numbers or conditional patent coverage notices because such false marking was not made with the requisite intent to deceive the public.
Please see full publication below for more information.