SAN FRANCISCO — An effort by a group of technology companies to short-circuit patent litigation in the Northern District of California using a recently resuscitated patent law doctrine was turned back on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken denied a motion to toss infringement claims against Canon Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Newegg Inc. and Seiko Epson Corp., finding their earlier victory before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) doesn't trigger the so-called Kessler doctrine.

The doctrine, established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1907, bars the relitigation of patent claims that have already been resolved in favor of an accused infringer. Lawyers have embraced the defense following a 2014 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Brain Life v. Elekta, which invoked the doctrine for the first time in decades. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the Northern District of California followed suit, granting summary judgment for defendants in 2014 under the Kessler doctrine in litigation over Internet search patents.