Northlake Marketing and Supply, Inc. v. Glaverbel, S.A.
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
958 F. Supp. 373 (1997)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Glaverbel, S.A. and Fosbel, Inc. (Glaverbel-Fosbel) (defendants) obtained Belgian and United States patents for their inventions. Northlake Marketing and Supply, Inc. (Northlake) (plaintiff) went to court in both countries to have those patents declared invalid. Northlake’s case depended in part on Northlake’s claim that a certain British document constituted a published description of the relevant prior art. Glaverbel-Fosbel moved to exclude this claim from the United States federal-district-court litigation on the grounds that the Belgian court had already ruled that the British document was found in a private library, had not been made public, and therefore had not been published for purposes of Belgian patent law.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Shadur, J.)
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