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I. RJR HAS NOT SHOWN INEQUITABLE CONDUCT BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE. . . .
II. RJR HAS NOT SHOWN BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT STAR SCIENTIFIC'S PATENTS ARE INDEFINITE. . . .
THE DISTRICT COURT ERRED IN REJECTING THE PRIORITY DATE OF THE PATENTS-IN-SUIT 26
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Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:STSI) reported today that its reply brief in its appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has been filed with the clerk of the court. The company is appealing rulings issued by the US District Court of Maryland in January and June, 2007 in its patent infringement lawsuit against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. The District Court entered final judgment on those rulings on June 26 and Star filed its notice of appeal on June 27.
The filing of Star's brief in reply to RJR's opposition to the appeal completes the written briefing portion of the appeals process. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals then will assign a date for oral arguments before a three-judge panel. An electronic version of the reply brief can be accessed by logging on to the company's corporate website, http://www.starscientific.com, and then clicking on the "Selected Articles" section of the website's "Media" menu.
Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:STSI) held its annual shareholder's meeting on Friday, December 14 in Washington, DC. Paul L. Perito, the company's Chairman, President and COO, and David Dean, Vice President for Sales and Marketing, each made presentations on the previous year's activities and goals for 2008.
Mr. Perito reviewed a numbers of "firsts" the company had achieved during the past seven years, which included the introduction of a new tobacco product category - low-TSNA dissolvable smokeless tobacco. Ariva® and Stonewall®, and their characteristics, are unique among all tobacco products currently being manufactured: the patented dissolvable products are the only product in their category, and their TSNA levels are the lowest of any tobacco product in the marketplace. TSNAs, or tobacco-specific nitrosamines, are widely recognized as one of the most powerful cancer-causing agents in tobacco leaf and smoke, and importantly, they are the major group of carcinogens in smokeless tobacco.
Mr. Perito summarized the findings from two studies conducted by a group of researchers with the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center. These studies, which were presented in the December, 2007 Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal, recruited adult dependent smokers to use either a medicinal nicotine lozenge or a smokeless tobacco product (Ariva® or Exalt) for two weeks, and to then use the other product for two weeks. In the fifth and final week, subjects were free to use either the smokeless product or the lozenge by choice. The studies revealed that "Ariva was preferred over the medicinal nicotine lozenge, which was preferred over Exalt."
Star Scientific, Inc. announced today that it has received a letter from the NASDAQ Global Market stating that all requirements necessary for continued listing have been met. NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5) requires that the Company maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share for at least 10 consecutive trading days, in order to demonstrate compliance with the rule. The minimum closing bid price per share for Star Scientific stock has ranged from $1.08 to $1.40 since October 2.
The company had received a letter from NASDAQ on August 24 stating that it was not in compliance with the minimum closing bid price listing standard, and that under Marketplace Rule 4450 (e)(2), it had 180 days to meet that standard.
Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:STSI - News) today announced that Park A. Dodd has been appointed as the company's Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. Mr. Dodd, who has been a special advisor to Star since May 2007, has had a thirty-year career in strategic financial planning and accounting. From 1980 to 2000 he was with Philip Morris, Inc.
Smokeless tobacco developer Star Scientific Inc said it has filed the opening brief in its appeal of its patent infringement lawsuit against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Inc, part of Reynolds American Inc.
Star said the papers were filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday.
The company alleges in the six-year dispute Reynolds infringed its patent for a process that reduces certain cancer-causing toxins in tobacco.
Star Scientific Inc., a company that specializes in tobacco technology, said it plans to file by Sept. 10 its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals in an ongoing patent-infringement lawsuit dispute with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
On June 26, Reynolds won a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by Star Scientific. A U.S. District Court judge ruled that Star engaged in inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent Office in obtaining patents involving a method of treating tobacco to substantially prevent the formation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines.
Also, Star Scientific said Thursday that it has been told by Nasdaq officials that it is has not been in compliance with the stock exchange's rule of having a minimum closing price of $1 a share for the past 30 days.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S., announced a resounding victory in a major patent infringement case brought against its client, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, by Star Scientific, Inc. (Star Scientific, Inc. v. R.J. Reynolds et al., Nos. MJG-01-1504 & MJG-02-2504 (D. Md.)). The defense team was led by Brinks attorneys, Richard A. Kaplan, Ralph J. Gabric, K. Shannon Mrksich and Jerold A. Jacover, all shareholders at the firm. The case involved two patents for a method of substantially preventing the formation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines.
Smokeless tobacco developer Star Scientific, Inc said it has initiated the appeals process in its patent infringement lawsuit against RJR Reynolds Tobacco Company Inc by filing a notice of appeal with the US District Court in Maryland.
Star Scientific said it is appealing, and will seek expedited review, of the January 19, 2007 summary judgment rulings as well as the Court's ruling on inequitable conduct, which was issued earlier this week.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the second-largest U.S. cigarette maker, won a ruling that two Star Scientific Inc. patents covering a formula for reducing carcinogens in tobacco are unenforceable.
Star sued Reynolds in federal court in 2001, claiming infringement of the patented inventions. Star, a developer of low-toxin tobacco products, sought hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the claimed violations.
U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis in Greenbelt, Maryland, ruled today that Star deceived the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in obtaining formal rights to its invention. The agency requires applicants to disclose all material information about a new invention. Star has said it would appeal.
Star Scientific Inc. early Wednesday vowed to appeal two federal court rulings against the smokeless tobacco developer in its patent dispute with cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
In a statement, Star Scientific said it "is disappointed and frankly outraged" that the court ruled against the company Tuesday in the "inequitable conduct" bench trial, which had delayed the implementation of a prior patent ruling against Star Scientific.
In patent law, "inequitable conduct" suggests that the patent-holder knowingly misrepresented itself or withheld relevant information in applying for its patent, allowing the court to deem its patent unenforceable.
"The opinion ignores significant portions of the record, distorts others, and spins a tale that is unrecognizable to those who attended the trial," the company said.
Shares of tobacco giant Reynolds American Inc. shot up again Wednesday even as analysts cautioned that its second victory in a patent dispute case is likely to have little affect the company.
The stock rose as high as $66.53 Wednesday morning, 4.2 percent higher than the opening price and a better than 10 percent increase since the beginning of the week. By afternoon, shares traded $1.43 higher at $65.10. Over the past year, Reynolds American shares have traded as low as $55.89 and as high as $67.60.
The company is disappointed and frankly outraged by the U.S. District Court's ruling yesterday on the inequitable conduct bench trial in its patent infringement lawsuit against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, Inc. (RJR). The Court's conclusion that highly respected and experienced senior attorneys at four national law firms were involved in an alleged plot to deceive the Patent Office is stunning and totally without support in the record. The opinion ignores significant portions of the record, distorts others, and spins a tale that is unrecognizable to those who attended the trial.
This distortion of the record, and numerous other errors by the district court, provide ample grounds for our appeal, both on the law and the facts. Our counsel will file a notice of appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit immediately upon entry of judgment, and will request that the Federal Circuit undertake the review on an expedited basis. We will also appeal the Court's January 19, 2007 rulings on definiteness and effective filing date. We welcome the opportunity to present the record in this case to objective decision-makers on the Federal Circuit. We are confident that we will prevail.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., an indirect subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), said Tuesday that it welcomes the decision in favor of the company in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by smokeless tobacco developer Star Scientific, Inc. (STSI).
A U.S. federal court ruled on Tuesday that Star Scientific engaged in inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent Office in obtaining patents involving a method of treating tobacco to substantially prevent the formation of cancer-causing toxins known as tobacco-specific nitrosamines.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company applauds today's decision in favor of the company in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Star Scientific, Inc. (Star). The Court ruled Star engaged in inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent Office in obtaining patents involving a method of treating tobacco to substantially prevent the formation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs).
"The Judge ruled in our favor on virtually every pending issue," said August Borschke, chief patent counsel for R.J. Reynolds. "Today's ruling validates what R.J. Reynolds proved at trial: that Star's patents are unenforceable."
In finding that Star had deceived the patent office, Federal District Court Judge Marvin J. Garbis stated: "The Court finds RJR to have made a strong showing of materiality and intent. The Court, therefore, concludes that it should, and shall, exercise its discretion to determine the Patents-in-Suit unenforceable by virtue of inequitable conduct ... "