Federal Circuit Affirms District Court’s Findings Against GlowProducts on LiteCubes’ Ice Cube

Holding:

A Federal Circuit upheld a district court’s denial of defendant GlowProducts’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction based on plaintiff Litecubes’ copyright and patent infringement action relating to defendant’s lighted artificial ice cube. According to the Federal Circuit, a plaintiff is able to establish subject matter jurisdiction by having a well pled complaint, even if the defendant is a foreign entity and the infringing activity is potentially outside the U.S. Further, even if a plaintiff fails to prove his infringement claims, it does not mean that federal courts have no subject matter jurisdiction over such claims. Here, plaintiff Litecubes overcame the motion to dismiss by alleging a violation of federal patent and copyright statutes. Additionally, the Federal Circuit sustained the trial court’s jury verdict finding copyright and patent infringement, as the court found no basis for overturning such finding. Specifically, because customers at issue were in the United States when they contracted for the purchase of the infringing artificial ice cubes, and the products were delivered directly to the United States, there was substantial evidence to support the jury’s conclusion that GlowProducts sold the infringing artificial ice cubes within the U.S.

Detailed Summary:

Plaintiff-appellee Carl L. Vanderschuit, owner and founder of co-plaintiff-appellee Litecubes, LLC (“Litecubes”), was the inventor and owner of U.S. Patent No. 6,416,198 (the “’198 patent”). The ’198 patent was for an illuminated novelty item that could be placed in beverages, i.e., a lighted artificial ice cube.  Litecubes was the licensee of the ’198 patent and the owner of a registered copyright on Litecubes. Defendant-appellant Northern Light Products, Inc., doing business as GlowProducts.com (“GlowProducts”) was a Canadian corporation operating from its offices in Victoria, British Columbia. GlowProducts was engaged in the business of purchasing novelty items from Chinese manufacturers and selling them…

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