ATLANTA (December 13, 2012) –In the case of Heflin v. Coleman Music and Entertainment, LLC et al., Appeal No. 2012-1287 (Fed. Cir. 2012), SGR Intellectual Property Partners Elizabeth G. Borland and Dale Lischer represented the defendants in a patent infringement action initially brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The case involved a patent on machines that sell “collector cards” and offer the user an opportunity to play a game of chance after purchasing a “collector card.” Before the district court, Ms. Borland argued for a construction of the term “collector card” that was favorable to her clients, and the court subsequently granted summary judgment of non-infringement in her clients’ favor on December 5, 2011. As part of the district court decision, the court held that the plaintiff’s own telephone card dispensing machines were not covered by the plaintiff’s patent.

The plaintiff appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Ms. Borland appeared for her clients at oral argument before the Court on December 4, 2012, and the Court affirmed the district court’s decision, without opinion, on December 10, 2012.