Filed: Feb. 09, 2009
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-1667 BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED, Defendant - Appellee. No. 03-1854 BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED, Defendant - Appellee. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Frank W. Bullock, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CA-01-741-1) Submitted: January 12, 2009 De
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-1667 BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED, Defendant - Appellee. No. 03-1854 BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED, Defendant - Appellee. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Frank W. Bullock, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CA-01-741-1) Submitted: January 12, 2009 Dec..
More
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-1667
BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED,
Defendant - Appellee.
No. 03-1854
BURLINGTON INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
SOLUTIA, INCORPORATED,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Frank W.
Bullock, Jr., Senior District Judge. (CA-01-741-1)
Submitted: January 12, 2009 Decided: February 9, 2009
Before NIEMEYER, SHEDD, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James Conrad Adams, II, Mack Sperling, James Thomas
Williams, Jr., BROOKS, PIERCE, MCLENDON, HUMPHREY & LEONARD,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. John David Norris,
Henry A. Petri, Jr., HOWREY, LLP, Houston, Texas; William Kearns
Davis, BELL, DAVIS & PITT, PA, Winston-Salem, North Carolina,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
2
PER CURIAM:
Burlington Industries, Inc., noted these appeals from
the district court’s orders granting summary judgment for
Solutia, Inc., on Burlington’s complaint. Solutia has moved to
transfer the appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit, asserting that this is a patent case and
federal jurisdiction is based upon 28 U.S.C. § 1338 (2006).
Our review of the motion, the response, and the
parties’ materials submitted in support of their positions leads
us to conclude that Burlington’s complaint asserted claims based
on breach of the Consent Decree/License Agreement, rather than
on infringement of Burlington’s patents. Because none of the
claims asserted in the complaint “aris[e] under” federal patent
law or require the resolution of a substantial question of
federal patent law, we deny the motion to transfer these appeals
to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1338(a); Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp.,
486 U.S.
800, 808-10 (1988). In light of our determination that
Burlington’s complaint did not arise under federal patent law,
we further find that the district court did not properly
exercise § 1338 jurisdiction over the case. Accordingly, we
vacate the district court’s orders and remand this case to the
district court with instructions to remand the case back to
state court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts
3
and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
4