Collateral estoppel invalidates patent claims based on jury finding of invalidity as to different claims of the same patents in earlier litigation

"[D]efensive collateral estoppel . . . extends to the unadjudicated claims in a patent to the extent that those unadjudicated claims present issues identical to the claims which were adjudicated and found invalid. Collateral estoppel applies to patent claims that were not previously adjudicated because the 'issues litigated, not the specific claims around which the issues were framed' are determinative. . . . [Further], if the claims are not identical but the difference is minor and not substantive, collateral estoppel will apply because, as with identical claims, the unadjudicated claims raise no new issues relating to invalidity based on obviousness."

CollegeNET, Inc. v. ApplyYourself, Inc., 3-02-cv-00484 (ORD October 28, 2008, Opinion & Order).