Major Win for Kramer Levin on Behalf of Westin Hotels in Federal Circuit Appeal

Intellectual Property and Technology partners Nicholas Coch and Peter Abruzzese and associate Vito DeBari scored a major victory representing Westin Hotel Company in an appeal before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The appeal was from a decision by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida granting Westin summary judgment of noninfringement of a patent owned by Phonometrics, Inc., which Phonometrics had asserted against Westin. Nick Coch argued the appeal before the Federal Circuit.

Phonometrics had sued Westin and numerous other hotel companies for infringement of a patent that was directed to a long-distance call cost computer system that Phonometrics alleged was used by all major hotel companies. After years of litigation, some of the cases involving other hotel companies ultimately were appealed to the Federal Circuit and resulted in several Federal Circuit decisions that construed various elements of the claims of the Phonometrics patent. Based upon those prior Federal Circuit decisions, Kramer Levin filed, on behalf of Westin, a motion for summary judgment of noninfringement which argued that, under the Federal Circuit's construction of the claims of the Phonometrics patent, Westin could not infringe as a matter of law. The District Court agreed and granted Westin's motion, which was appealed by Phonometrics to the Federal Circuit.