Thomson, S.A. v. Quixote Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
166 F.3d 1172 (1999)
Thomson, S.A. (plaintiff), assignee of optical-disc-storage patents with a stipulated invention date of August 25, 1972, sued Quixote Corporation and Disc Manufacturing, Inc. (defendants) for infringement; Quixote presented testimony from two non-party MCA Discovision employees that MCA had invented an unpatented laser video disc anticipating Thomson's claims before August 1972. The jury found Thomson's claims invalid for lack of novelty based on MCA's prior invention, the district court denied Thomson's motion for judgment as a matter of law, and Thomson appealed, arguing the MCA employees' uncorroborated testimony couldn't support invalidity.
Whether a patent is invalid for lack of novelty if the claimed invention was already invented by another inventor in the United States who did not abandon or conceal the invention.