Diamond Scientific Co. v. Ambico, Inc.

848 F.2d 1220, 6 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 2028 (1988)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Diamond Scientific Co. v. Ambico, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
848 F.2d 1220, 6 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 2028 (1988)

Facts

Dr. Clarence Welter (defendant) founded Ambico, Inc. (defendant). Prior to forming Ambico, while Welter was employed by Diamond Scientific Co. (Diamond) (plaintiff), he invented a vaccine for pigs. Welter filed a patent application and, before the application was granted, assigned all rights in the patents to Diamond. The assignment was conducted in exchange for valuable consideration. Welter executed an oath that asserted he believed he was the first and only inventor of the vaccine, the vaccine was never previously known or used, and the vaccine had not already been patented or described in a publication in any country. Diamond was eventually given three patents related to the vaccine. Ambico started producing and selling similar pig vaccines after Diamond received the patents. Diamond filed a patent-infringement case in federal court against Ambico and Welter, asserting Ambico’s vaccines infringed on the three vaccine patents assigned by Welter to Diamond. Ambico and Welter filed an answer that included the affirmative defense of patent invalidity for each of the three patents. Diamond filed a motion to strike the three affirmative defenses, asserting the doctrine of assignor estoppel. The district court granted the motion to strike, and Ambico and Welter appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Davis, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership