Court's Sua Sponte Finding of Inequitable Conduct During Inventorship Trial Did Not Violate Patentee's Due Process Rights

The court's determination of inequitable conduct during the inventorship portion of a bifurcated trial, "based on the court’s finding that signatures of [a] co-inventor . . . [were] forged," did not violate defendant's due process rights. "The court gave both sides ample opportunity to brief the issue and present oral arguments, and the court also deemed the pleadings to have been amended to correspond to the evidence presented at trial. The court cannot ignore the glaring evidence of both materiality and intent and set aside its finding of inequitable conduct simply because of the unusual procedural circumstances in which the underlying facts came to light."

Applied Materials, Inc. v. MultiMetrixs, LLC, 3-06-cv-07372
(CAND May 26, 2009, Memorandum & Order) (Patel, J.)