SCOTUS denies J&J’s patent appeal against Rembrandt

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the Johnson & Johnson v Rembrandt Vision Technologies patent case centring on contact lens technology.

Rembrandt originally sued Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for alleged patent infringement of US number 5,712,327, titled “Soft gas permeable contact lens having improved clinical performance”. The products cited were Acuvue Advance and Oasys.

J&J was cleared of infringement, but after the decision Rembrandt was given information claiming that J&J’s expert witness had provided false information.

However, the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied the request and Rembrandt appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The Supreme Court petition for certiorari was filed by Johnson & Johnson, which claimed that the Federal Circuit erred in agreeing that Rembrandt should have a new trial.

Rembrandt was granted its request based on a J&J witness who provided false statements, which the court ruled may have affected how Rembrandt conducted its case.

The Federal Circuit said in its ruling: “Rembrandt Vision Technologies appeals from the district court’s denial of Rembrandt’s motion for a new trial under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 60(b)(2) and (3).

“Because the district court abused its discretion in denying Rembrandt’s Rule 60(b)(3) motion, we reverse and remand for a new trial.”

In the petition, J&J argued that although its witness gave false testimony and withheld some relevant documents, the district court that initially gave the win to J&J concluded that Rembrandt was not prevented from making its case.

The witness testified falsely about his personal involvement in the testing of contact lenses, as well as his experience with the relevant testing methodologies. He also withheld contradictory test results on third-party lenses.