Drone Techs., Inc. v. Parrot S.A., No. 15-1892 (Fed. Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDrone’s patents are directed to systems for remotely controlled machines. Before the invention, conventional remote-control systems included a remote-controlled device (e.g., a model airplane) and a handheld device with a stick that controlled movement in two directions. Controlling three directions required simultaneous use of both hands. Drone’s patents purport to enable a user to synchronize the movement of a remote-controlled device with the movement of a controller: moving the handheld control itself causes a synchronous movement of the airplane. After entering default judgment as a sanction for Parrot’s failure to comply with discovery orders, the district court awarded Drone damages for Parrot’s infringement of the patents and awarded Drone attorney fees. The Federal Circuit vacated. The district court abused its discretion in issuing discovery orders requiring Parrot to turn over its on-board source code and in entering a default judgment for failure to comply. The court upheld denial of a motion to dismiss Drone’s complaint for lack of standing; Parrot had argued that the assignments to Drone were invalid because the person named on the patents and who assigned the patents to Drone was not the true inventor. On remand, Parrot may raise the affirmative defense of improper inventorship under 35 U.S.C. 102(f).
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