Lower Courts in Patent Cases Continue to Ignore Factual Disputes and Weigh Evidence Against Nonmovants
"In patent cases, district courts are increasingly granting summary judgment by ignoring factual
disputes and/or weighing evidentiary disputes against non-movants, thus depriving patent owners of
their right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment.
As the Supreme Court has observed, it is an "axiom" that in ruling on a motion for summary judgment,
"[t]he evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his
favor." Tolan v. Cotton, 572 U.S. 650, 651 (2014) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242,
255, (1986)). "[A]t the summary judgment stage the judge’s function is not himself to weigh the
evidence and determine the truth of the matter but to determine whether there is a genuine issue for
trial". Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249. Thus, "a district court generally cannot grant summar y judgment
based on its assessment of the credibility of the evidence presented." Agosto v. INS, 436 U.S. 748, 756
(1978)."
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