Star Scientific Files Motion for Judgment, New Trial Patent infringement lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds goes on
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PETERSBURG, Va. -- Star Scientific Inc. announced that its trial counsel has filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law and in the alternative, for a new trial, with the U.S. District Court in Maryland. The motion requests the court to set aside the June 16 jury verdict that was reached at the conclusion of the trial of Star's patent infringement lawsuit against Winston-Salem, N.C.-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR), and to grant Star a new trial.
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If the motion is denied, the next step will be for Judge Marvin Garbis to enter final judgment, which will effectively close out the case at the district court level. Star then can immediately file a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit.
The company has retained Carter G. Phillips, managing partner of the Washington office of Sidley Austin, to head up the federal circuit appeal. Phillips represented Star in its appeal of the 2007 district court rulings on summary judgment and on the bench trial of RJR's inequitable conduct defense. That appeal resulted in the unanimous decision by a three-judge federal circuit panel, in August 2008, which overturned the district court rulings and remanded the case to the district court for a jury trial, which took place in Baltimore, beginning May 18, 2009.
Paul L. Perito, Star's chairman and president, said the company "was disappointed and troubled by the inexplicable jury verdict that was reached in the trial. We believe the verdict was contrary to the evidence presented on both infringement and validity, and that the company will be vindicated at the conclusion of the judicial process."
Petersburg, Va.-based Star Scientific is a technology-oriented tobacco company with a toxin reduction mission. It is engaged in the development of dissolvable smokeless tobacco products that deliver fewer carcinogenic toxins (principally tobacco specific nitrosamines, or TSNAs), through the use of the StarCured tobacco curing technology, and in sublicensing that technology to others.
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The company has retained Carter G. Phillips, managing partner of the Washington office of Sidley Austin, to head up the federal circuit appeal. Phillips represented Star in its appeal of the 2007 district court rulings on summary judgment and on the bench trial of RJR's inequitable conduct defense. That appeal resulted in the unanimous decision by a three-judge federal circuit panel, in August 2008, which overturned the district court rulings and remanded the case to the district court for a jury trial, which took place in Baltimore, beginning May 18, 2009.