Hopland Band of Pomo Indians v. United States

Newell Companies, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, 606 F. Supp. 1282, 226 USPQ 157 (D.R.I. 1985) (Boyle, C.J.), in a patent infringement suit brought against Kenney Manufacturing Company. Following a jury trial in which the jury answered interrogatories responding, inter alia, that no claims in issue of United States Patent No. 4,006,770 (the 770 patent), owned by Newell, were proved invalid for obviousness under the standard of 35 U.S.C. § 103 (1982), the district court granted Kenneys reserved motion for directed verdict and entered judgment for Kenney on that issue holding claims 1, 2, 6 and 7 invalid. We affirm.