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Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. V. Smith: Willful Infringement-Reliance On A Flawed Letter From Counsel, Brian David Bellamy

Mercer Law Review

In Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. v. Smith, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that an infringer's reliance on patent counsel's letter is justified if the "opinion [is] thorough enough, as combined with other factors, to instill a belief in the infringer that a court might reasonably hold the patent is invalid, not infringed, or unenforceable."' In crafting this decision, the court focused on the intent and the reasonable beliefs of the infringer. By relying on a letter from patent counsel, Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation ("Ortho") had a reasonable basis for believing that it had not infringed the patent of American …