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"<p dir=\"ltr\">COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Last month, a federal judge ruled in favor of a Florida company that makes and sells liners for use with prosthetics.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">Judge Gregory Frost, for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, handed down his 81-page ruling in <em>The Ohio Willow Wood Company v. ALPS South LLC</em> Sept. 24.</p><br /><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">The decision comes after a decade of legal wrangling in multiple courts, renders the patent at issue invalid and allows ALPS to collect attorneys&rsquo; fees in addition to the $15.5 million in damages.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"http://www.willowwoodco.com/\">OWW</a>, based in Mt. Sterling, Ohio, sued ALPS for patent infringement and related claims in December 2004.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">The Ohio company is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,830,237, which involves technology related to coverings for amputees employing a prosthesis.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">The relevant claim discloses a device in the form of a cushioned sock that fits over a residuum, or an amputation stump, and that features a gel coating on the interior surface of the sock.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">ALPS, which also makes and sells such liners, including stretchable fabric covers lined with gel, filed a counterclaim for inequitable conduct against OWW in initially prosecuting the &lsquo;237 patent.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"http://www.easyliner.com/\">St. Petersburg-based company</a> argued that the patent was invalid because non-party Silipos Inc. -- a competitor of both OWW and ALPS -- manufactured and sold a product called the Silosheath in the early 1990s. The product featured a nylon fabric covering with a gel coating on the interior surface.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">Frost initially ruled against ALPS, but a three-judge panel overturned that decision, arguing that the company&rsquo;s competitor had indeed withheld &ldquo;material information&rdquo; and made &ldquo;several misrepresentations&rdquo; when appearing before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">The appeals panel sent the case back to Frost&rsquo;s court for trial, which began July 30. The trial lasted two days.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">In his order, Frost said ALPS had shown that OWW had acted with &ldquo;deceptive intent&rdquo; and had made &ldquo;misrepresentations&rdquo; to the PTO.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">&ldquo;ALPS therefore has met its burden in proving deceptive intent by clear and convincing evidence,&rdquo; the judge wrote.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">Shumaker Loop &amp; Kendrick LLP attorney Ronald Christaldi represented ALPS in the trial.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">&ldquo;This decision, coming on the heels of our victory during the appeals process, marks an important shift in how the courts are dealing with inequitable conduct,&rdquo; Christaldi said.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">&ldquo;Federal circuit case law handed down in 2011 made it much more difficult to prove inequitable conduct, but the ALPS decision shows that doesn&rsquo;t mean companies can get away with intentional misrepresentations.&rdquo;</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">In addition to its prosthetic liners, ALPS has designed a one-of-a-kind semi-automatic revolver, an oxygen-injected engine that increases a car&rsquo;s horsepower, a prosthetic foot, improved sleep apnea masks and a silicone mask that helps facial surgery patients recover more quickly.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">Christaldi, who also serves as the chair-elect of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, said the ruling is not only great for the company, but also for other entrepreneurs.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\">&ldquo;The court has sent a strong message that patents must be truthfully obtained and that deceptive companies will be punished,&rdquo; he said.</p><br /><p dir=\"ltr\"><em>From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at <a href=\"mailto:patents@legalnewsline.com\">patents@legalnewsline.com</a>.</em></p>"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510627815-federal-court-sides-with-fla-manufacturer-in-case-over-prosthesis-coverings-patent>