ITC Litigation Patent Infringement Case

One of the interesting things about being a patent attorney is that I get to work with all different kinds of technologies. I’m Rich Beem. I’m a patent attorney in Chicago and I’m going to tell you about an actual case that I had, a case that I tried in the International Trade Commission – a patent infringement case. The product is in this silver case. The product is called the Pleasure Plus. And what the product is, is a condom. These are condoms that are sold in stores and it comes in a very nice, elegant case. By the way, the average amount of time that people spend in making a selection in this particular product variety is about 10 or 15 seconds. Now, there’s a very inventive feature that was involved in this particular condom. The name of the case was in the matter of certain male prophylactic devices. And I would like to show you how these condoms are made. The way the condoms are made are by glass formers. This is a glass former. And what is done with these they are on a machine and they are dipped into a latex liquid. They are then pulled out and when they’re pulled out, a thin film of latex surrounds the glass former. Now the novelty, the inventive feature in this particular condom is that it has a bulge up near one end. There is a reservoir tip which has been known before but there is a bulge on the side. That’s called a pouch on pouch. And the advantage of the pouch on pouch is that it provides increased sensitivity for the male. This is something that I actually presented expert testimony on and demonstrations of these formers and the condoms themselves in the courtroom in the International Trade Commission. I presented the expert testimony and I cross-examined one of the world’s leading experts on condom technology. Now this is another former. This one still has the plastic attached that is attached to the machine in which the former is dipped. This one has a few ribs that are along the side of the pouch on pouch and again there is a reservoir tip. These are two different versions of the condom that are made by our client. And the result of the patent infringement trial in which some friends and I tried from two small law firms in Chicago, working as co-counsel, working together. We tried this against three very large law firms in the courtroom of the International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. and the judge entered a finding of infringement of our client’s patent at the end of that week-long trial. So that’s the case of the condoms. I’m Rich Beem in Chicago. You may have a patent infringement case. It may involve technology that’s hard to explain or that’s awkward to explain. If I can help you with your patent infringement case, call me. I’m at 312-201-0011. Thank you.