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Article: Knorr-Bremse: Death of an Inference.(patent infringement)
- Article from:
- Mondaq Business Briefing
- Article date:
- September 17, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Mondaq Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In its long awaited decision, a virtually unanimous en banc panel of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned 18 years of precedent, revoking the so-called "adverse inference" rule explaining it had resulted in inappropriate burdens on the attorney-client relationship. Knorr-Bremse Systems Fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH v. Dana Corp., Case Nos. 01-1357, -1376, 02-1221, - 156 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 13, 2004).
Evidence of actual copying is rarely available. As a result, courts have focused on whether an accused infringer had a good-faith belief its conduct was proper. Over time, the Federal Circuit imposed an affirmative duty on a potential ...