Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. v. Five-Star Filtration, LLC et al

Filing 38

FINAL CONSENT JUDGMENT ORDER AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION - IT IS ORDERED GRANTING 37 Joint MOTION for Entry of Consent Judgment Order and Permanent Injunction. FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED AS FOLLOWS: Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys fees. This Order represents a final adjudication of all claims, counterclaims and defenses which were or could have been made in this action between Plaintiff and Defendants with respect to the '132 patent in suit and the Five Star Disk Filter System as it was installed and used at Pecan Creek. (see attached pdf for details). All such claims are hereby dismissed with prejudice. Signed by Judge Frederick J Martone on 4/3/08. (SAT) (Entered: 04/03/2008)

Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. v. Five-Star Filtration, LLC et al

Doc. 38

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA AQUA-AEROBIC SYSTEMS, INC., Plaintiff, v. FIVE STAR FILTRATION, LLC and JOHNSON UTILITIES, LLC, Defendants. The court has before it the "Joint Motion for Entry of Consent Judgment Order and Permanent Injunction" (doc. 37) through which it has been represented to the Court that Plaintiff, Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. ("Aqua-Aerobic"), and Defendants, Five Star Filtration, LLC ("Five Star") and Johnson Utilities, LLC ("Johnson") (collectively "Defendants"), have entered into a Settlement Agreement and have agreed to a final resolution of this case on the terms and conditions set forth below: Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED GRANTING the Joint Motion (doc. 37). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED AS FOLLOWS: Case No. 2:07-cv-1251-PHX-FJM Hon. Frederick J Martone FINAL CONSENT JUDGMENT ORDER AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 action.

1.

This is a claim for patent infringement arising under the patent laws of the

United States, Title 35 of the United States Code.
2.

The Court has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter of this

3.

Aqua-Aerobic is the exclusive licensee of United States Patent No.

6,103,132 (the "'132 patent"), entitled "Filter Cloth, Filtering Process, and Filtering Device for Liquid Filtration," which issued on August 15, 2000. Aqua-Aerobic has the exclusive right to license and enforce the '132 patent, has standing to sue for infringement of the '132 patent and has the right to collect damages for past infringement of the '132 patent.
4.

Defendants agree, and the Court therefore finds, that the '132 patent is

valid and enforceable.
5.

Defendants agree, and the Court therefore finds, that Defendants have

directly and/or indirectly infringed the '132 patent through the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, assembly, installation, and/or use of the wastewater filtration system as originally installed at the Pecan Creek Subdivision in Queen Creek, Arizona ("Pecan Creek").
6.

Five Star agrees, and the Court therefore finds, that Five Star has

redesigned certain aspects of the Five Star Disk Filter System, and that the redesigned wastewater filtration system (as modified, the "Redesigned System"), as represented by Five Star, does not infringe the '132 patent. More specifically, in the Redesigned System, the backwash header and/or backwash shoe does not at any time come into -2-

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contact with the cloth filter media (or the pile threads of the cloth filter media) or in any way act mechanically upon the cloth filter media or the pile threads of the cloth filter media.
7.

Aqua-Aerobics agrees, and the Court therefore finds, that the Redesigned

System, as represented by Five Star, does not infringe the '132 patent.
8.

In agreeing to enter into the Settlement Agreement, and in consenting to

this Order, Aqua-Aerobic and the Court have relied on the representations made by Defendants about the Redesigned System which will be installed at Pecan Creek.
9.

Five Star has represented and agreed, and the Court therefore finds, that

Five Star will refrain from all acts of infringement of the '132 patent, and will immediately discontinue the manufacture, use, sale and/or offer to sell the Five Star Disk Filter System, as originally designed and installed at Pecan Creek. Defendants will replace the existing Five Star Disk Filter System at Pecan Creek with the Redesigned System no later than twenty-one (21) days after the effective date of the parties' Settlement Agreement.
10.

Effective as of the date of this Order, Defendants, jointly and severally,

and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, distributors, officers, directors, agents, successors and assigns, and all those persons in active concert or participation with them, are hereby permanently restrained and enjoined, for the life of the '132 patent, from making, using, selling, importing and/or offering to sell the wastewater filtration system accused of infringement in this lawsuit, as well as any other product or process that falls within the scope of any claim of any of the patents in suit, or otherwise -3-

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infringing, contributorily infringing and/or inducing the infringement of the '132 patent in suit without a license from Aqua-Aerobic.
11.

This Order represents a final adjudication of all claims, counterclaims and

defenses which were or could have been made in this action and will bar Defendants from litigating the defenses of unenforceability and/or invalidity of the '132 patent, even as to different devices charged with infringement of the patent in suit in any future proceedings. Further, Defendants agree to and hereby waive and relinquish the right to ever contest the validity and/or enforceability of the '132 patent in suit or any of the claims of the patents in suit, whether such assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability would be made in a court proceeding or Patent Office proceeding, and whether or not such assertion is in relationship to the infringing devices in this action or in connection with any other devices made, used and/or sold by Defendants. It is the intent of this provision that to the fullest and broadest extent permitted by law, Defendants are precluded from challenging the validity and/or enforceability of the '132 patent in suit or any of the claims of the patent in suit, and that such preclusion is acknowledged and intended to be broader than the prohibition on such challenges arising from the doctrine of res judicata and/or collateral estoppel.
12. 13.

Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys fees. This Order represents a final adjudication of all claims, counterclaims and

defenses which were or could have been made in this action between Plaintiff and Defendants with respect to the '132 patent in suit and the Five Star Disk Filter System as

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it was installed and used at Pecan Creek. All such claims are hereby dismissed with prejudice. Dated this 3rd day of April, 2008.

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