An Indiana federal judge has dismissed a long-running patent lawsuit between Knauf Insulation Inc. and Johns Manville Corp., just days before the trial was set to begin. However, Chief U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the Southern District of Indiana declined to vacate a prior ruling on claim construction, arguing that doing so would undermine public interest and waste the significant effort invested in the case.
Knauf Insulation vs Johns Manville Lawsuit : Dismissal of the Case
On August 16, Knauf Insulation and Johns Manville jointly filed for dismissal, which was granted by Judge Pratt. The case, initiated in 2015, involved claims that Johns Manville infringed seven of Knauf’s patents with its formaldehyde-free insulation products, EasyFit and Flex-Glass. Although the case is now dismissed, the court’s previous summary judgment and claim construction order that invalidated claims related to six of the seven patents will remain on the books.
Judge Pratt’s Rationale
In her Thursday opinion, Judge Pratt explained that vacating the earlier claim construction order would not serve the public interest, noting that it would promote “dice rolling” in future patent disputes, where litigants could prolong cases in hopes of getting unfavorable decisions vacated after settling. She referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1994 decision in U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership, which held that rulings should not be vacated in cases that settle after an appeal is filed.
