Question

Medi Corp is a corporation that deals in the manufacturing of medical devices. It has just received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for one of its surgical robotic knee devices. The patent is for the purpose of use in full knee replacement surgeries, which was stated on the patent’s application. For part of the manufacturing process, Medi Corp uses Tech Co. to assemble the computer components that run the robot. Tech Co. is a computer company that manufactures a lot of the computer components for several medical device companies in the U.S.

Medi Corp has been considering making a bid to acquire Tech Co. If Medi Corp acquires Tech Co., the transaction would likely be around $100 million dollars. Tech Co. is one of only three companies in the U.S. that manufactures and assembles these computer components for medical devices, and is the biggest of the three companies that offer these services, with the other two companies several million in revenue behind Tech Co. Moreover, Medi Corp. is considered a leader in medical device manufacturing in the U.S. Both companies are publicly traded companies.

Tech Co.’s board of directors are willing to approve of a merger with Medi Corp. Rebecca is on the board of directors for Tech Co. She tells her husband that he should consider purchasing Medi Corp stock. Rebecca does not tell her husband any of the confidential information of the potential merger with Medi Corp., but her husband does know that she is on the board of directors at Tech Co. and that Medi Corp is a company Tech Co. does business with. Bob is an employee of Tech Co. He has been courted by Comp Inc., one of the competitors of Tech Co.

Bob has decided to leave Tech Co. for a senior placement at Comp Inc. At Tech Co., Bob works on the manufacturing of these computer components for Medi Corp. At Comp Inc., he will be in more of a management position, determining which companies Comp Inc. should be doing business with, and managing those employees that are in the manufacturing facilities.

Please answer the following question and provide legal reasoning:

If Medi Corp learns that Comp Inc. is releasing a robotic surgical device for hip replacement surgery that has similar technology to its surgical robotic knee devices, does it have any recourse against Comp Inc. for patent infringement? Please fully explain your answer as to what it must prove for this complaint against Comp Inc., and any defenses Comp Inc. has against this claim. Also explain if there could be any recourse against Bob directly if Bob had originally signed a confidentiality agreement with Tech Co. when he worked for them.

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Answer 1

This is a question of Law but unfortunately it has come to an psychology expert and as per the question , I cant skip this question because there is no Law subject, thus decided to answer this question with my best effort.

As per my knowledge regarding law , court will always ask for the proof. Without a valid proof nothing can happen. As per this case, Comp Inc can launch its new product with its expertise and proper patent . Medi corp,s blame of patent infringement will be dismissed in the court.

Further, Comp Inc is a competitor of Tech Co. so Tech Co .may take any step against Comp Inc , if Bob had signed any such agreement that he will not provide his expertise to any other company in future or to join a new company there should be a cooling period. But , if the agreement is only of not to share the confidential matters of the company i.e. Tech Co and Bob has not disclosed such matters in his new company i.e Comp Inc , then there should be no such problem.

Here two things we have to remember that : Bob is an expert of making computer components only thus got a better opportunity in a competitor company who is also making the same product i.e. computer components, but making computer components only does,nt ensure the production of that robotic surgical device for which Medi corp has got the patent for.