R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Granted Summary Judgment in Patent Infringement Suit
January 19 2007 - 5:02PM
PR Newswire (US)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company is pleased with today's decision by a U.S.
District Court Judge granting its summary judgment motion on
invalidity in a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it by
Star Scientific, Inc. (Star). The ruling renders Star's patents in
question invalid based upon indefiniteness. The patents involve a
method of treating tobacco to substantially prevent the formation
of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). In granting the motion,
Judge Marvin Garbis ruled Star failed to give notice as to what
activities are covered by the alleged invention, stating in his
ruling: " ... the essential problem with the claims is that no one
-- certainly not one of ordinary skill in the art -- reading the
Patents-in-Suit would be able to carry out the invention." "It has
been R.J. Reynolds' position that Star's patents are invalid," said
August Borschke, chief patent counsel for R.J. Reynolds. "Today's
ruling confirms our belief." Star filed the suit on May 23, 2001,
in the U.S. District Court for Maryland - Southern Division and had
sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for past alleged
infringement, and an injunction going forward to prevent future
alleged infringement. R.J. Reynolds is represented in the case by a
team from the Chicago office of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione led
by Richard Kaplan, Ralph Gabric, Shannon Mrksich and Jerold
Jacover. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, an indirect subsidiary of
Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE:RAI), is the second-largest tobacco
company in the United States, manufacturing about one of every
three cigarettes sold in the country. The company's brands include
five of the 10 best-selling U.S. cigarette brands: Camel, Kool,
Winston, Salem and Doral. For more information, visit
http://www.rjrt.com/. DATASOURCE: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
CONTACT: David Howard of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., +1-336-741-3489
Web site: http://www.rjrt.com/
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