Altavion, Inc. v. Konica-Minolta Systems Lab., Inc. (5/7/08)

The court granted Altavion's motion to remand, ultimately concluding that the claims at issue did not arise under federal patent law. Each of Altavion's claims was supported by a theory that did not require as a necessary element resolution of a substantial question of federal patent law. The mere fact that Konica had filed ten patent applications disclosing various elements of Altavion's digital stamping technology did not convert this action into one arising under federal patent law. Exercising federal jurisdiction over this case because it could involve a question of conception of an invention would disrupt the parallel state-federal system of intellectual property rights.