Olympia Group v. Alltrade: Preliminary Injunction Denied — Plaintiff did not show likelihood of infringement

Gorilla Bar

Olympia v. Alltrade (Fed. Cir. 2005).

Olympia makes the Gorilla Bar, an embodiment of their patented pry-bar invention.  Alltrade makes the Cobra Bar, "a slightly curved pry-bar with an hourglass-shaped shank.

Olympia sued for infringement and requested a preliminary injunction (PI).  However, the California district court denied the PI because "Olympia had not shown a substantial likelihood that the Cobra Bar infringed . . . because Alltrade’s Cobra Bar did not have an elliptical cross section or a linear shank" as required by the claim language.

On appeal, Olympia asked the Federal Circuit to overturn the PI denial based on improper claim construction by the district court.

In its decision, the appellate panel first noted that before determining if there is a likelihood of infringement, a district court "must first construe the meaning of the relevant claims."

Although the appellate panel found errors in the district court’s construction, based on the district court’s proper analysis with respect one claim element, Olympia did not meet its burden of showing a likelihood of success on the merits of the infringement claim.

The decision of the district court is therefore affirmed, and Alltrade may legally continue to sell the Cobra Bar.

Comment:

It is difficult to get an appellate court to overturn a denial of a preliminary injunction on appeal.  "[W]hen a preliminary injunction is denied, the movant carries a heavier burden to obtain a reversal." New England Braiding Co. v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 970 F.2d 878, 882 (Fed. Cir. 1992).  The Federal Circuit’s standard of review for a denial of a PI is as follows:

This court reviews a denial of a preliminary injunction by the district court for abuse of discretion, which can be established by showing the district court decision is based on clearly erroneous factual findings, an error of law, or a clear error of judgment in weighing the relevant factors.

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