in practicing a patented process” is liable for contributory infringement if: (1) the component constitutes “a material part of the invention”; (2) the alleged infringer knows that the component is “especially made or especially adapted for use in an infringement of [the] patent”; and (3) the component is “not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use.” 35 U.S.C. § 271(c); see also i4i Ltd. P’ship v. Microsoft Corp., 598 F.3d 831, 850-851 (Fed.Cir.2010) (discussing the legal elements of a contributory infringement claim). As with induced infringement, a plaintiff must also show direct infringement by a third party in order to succeed on a claim of contributory infringement. See Anton/Bauer, Inc. v. PAG, Ltd., 329 F.3d 1343, 1349 (Fed.Cir.2003) (<HOLDING>) (citation omitted). D-Link Systems and ZyXEL
holding that copyright infringement defendant failed to prove the affirmative defense of unclean hands which was based on the patent holders marking of its product with an expired patent because there was no evidence that the patent holder had acted with the requisite intent to deceive holding that knowledge of the patent is required for willful infringement holding that contributory trademark infringement requires some predicate act of infringement holding that the plaintiff must prove that the end users directly infringed its patent in order to succeed on its claim of contributory infringement holding in a patent infringement case that plaintiff lacked standing where it held a conditional right to license a patent and enforce license agreements but did not have the right to transfer the patent