Judge Overrules Jury In Perkin-Elmer/TA Instruments Patent Dispute

A Delaware judge unilaterally overruled a federal jury verdict on Dec. 9, 1998, that was rendered in a patent-infringement case between Perkin-Elmer Corp. (Norwalk, CN), and TA Instruments (New Castle, DE).

The judge vacated the seven-member jury based on what she perceived to be confusion on the part of the jury. In their ruling on Feb. 2, 1998, the jury had absolved Perkin-Elmer of all liability for patent infringement in an action brought by TA Instruments. The product under question is an accessory in Perkin-Elmer's line of thermal-analysis instruments—one of many product lines comprising the company's analytical instruments division.

"We are extremely surprised and troubled by this decision, particularly to the extent the judge cites jury confusion to support her unusual action, when she at various occasions during trial acknowledged her own confusion with respect to the complex case," says David Aker, chief patent counsel for Perkin-Elmer's analytical instruments division. "The parties presented their cases to the jury over a three-week period, after which the jury returned a verdict completely absolving Perkin-Elmer of any liability. The jury's decision was in no way casual or without reason in that it ruled explicitly for Perkin-Elmer on all 11 patent claims asserted by TA after about 10 hours of deliberations."

The court has not made any ruling with respect to injunctive relief that prevents Perkin-Elmer from selling the product at issue in the case. Perkin-Elmer intends to appeal the judge's ruling and seek to restore the original jury verdict.

"This decision, coming long after conclusion of jury deliberations, is of additional concern given that the judge chose to let the jury decide the case in spite of TA's earlier motions to the contrary," Aker says. "We are at a loss to understand the judge's recent contradictory decision."

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