New Tek Manufacturing, Inc. v. Beehner

The plaintiff, New Tek Manufacturing, Inc. (New Tek), sued John A. Beehner, its former attorney, and his law office for professional negligence, alleging that Beehner’s negligence had caused the expiration of a patent issued to New Tek. New Tek alleged that its patent had been infringed and that because of Beehner’s negligence, New Tek was unable to sue the alleged infringer. The district court entered summary judgment against New Tek, concluding that the alleged infringer’s device would not have been found to infringe on New Tek’s patent, and that thus, New Tek had not been damaged by…