Serta Patent Settlement Should Have Been Enforced: Fed. Cir.

A Manhattan federal court wrongly issued a judgment in a patent case between Serta Simmons Bedding LLC and Casper Sleep Inc. after the parties had already agreed to settle, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.

The district court erred in ruling on the merits after the settlement had been filed, and in finding it lacked jurisdiction to enforce the agreement after the fact.

Serta sued Casper for infringing three patents related to mattresses with different levels of firmness in different areas of the mattress. Casper sought a summary judgment ruling that it didn’t infringe any of the patents. While Casper’s motions ...