Husch Blackwell prevailed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of client TuffStuff Fitness International, Inc. in a patent dispute with competitor Hoist Fitness Systems, Inc. The Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s claim construction and affirmed a final judgment of noninfringement.
Hoist filed a lawsuit in April 2017 against TuffStuff asserting infringement of six different patents against nine different exercise machines. In September 2019, mere hours before trial was to commence, the parties stipulated to entry of judgment of noninfringement in favor of TuffStuff; Hoist then appealed, arguing that the district court erred in its claim construction of the six asserted patents. In a unanimous opinion, the appellate panel ultimately affirmed the lower court’s judgment, writing that “[w]e find no error in the district court’s claim construction.”
The lawsuit concerned TuffStuff’s line of patented Selectorized Bio-Arc exercise machines and is part of a long-running dispute where Hoist has repeatedly sought to remove the Bio-Arc product line from the U.S. market through both district court litigations and the International Trade Commission.
The Husch Blackwell team included Rudy Telscher, Daisy Manning, Kara Fussner, Eric Rakestraw, Michael Annis, Paul Smelcer, and Lauren Hitchens.