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Court dismisses patent case against DSC
Tyco Safety Products Canada Ltd., manufacturer of DSC home security products, says it has prevailed in a major lawsuit involving certain legacy DSC alarm panels.
April 13, 2009 By Staff
The Federal Court of Canada dismissed the patent infringement action
filed in 2004 by a competitor, Paradox Security Systems Ltd.
The Court ruled that Paradox’s patents are invalid on multiple grounds
and that all infringement allegations against DSC must therefore be
dismissed.
The Court concluded that Paradox had improperly modified the scope of
its patents only weeks before launching the lawsuit by filing
disclaimers against the patents, and that the Paradox patents were in
invalid because they were anticipated and obvious in light of prior
art.
The Court found that the Paradox disclaimers were not the appropriate
mechanism to modify the patents, and that it had failed to establish to
the Court’s satisfaction that the conditions for filing disclaimers in
Canadian law had been adhered to. The disclaimers were ruled to be
invalid.
The Court also held that Paradox had admitted in its disclaimers that
the original claims of its patents were too broad; consequently the
patents as originally granted were also invalid. The Court went on to
analyze the validity of the patents, both as originally granted and as
disclaimed. It determined the patents were invalid because they lacked
inventiveness and were substantially similar to earlier issued patents
and technologies.
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