Claim construction and finding of noninfringement affirmed In a decision Wednesday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's claim construction and grant of summary judgment of non-infringement. The patent holder's proposed claim interpretation relied heavily on means-plus-function language and an embodiment in the specification not covered by the claim construction. The Federal Circuit found that the failure to use clear "means-plus-function language" […] Continue Reading →
Partially does not include totally, judgment of noninfringement affirmed In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's claim construction and its related judgment of noninfringement. The court declined to import a meaning which went against the plain meaning of the disputed term, and stated if the patentee had intended such a meaning, it should have done so explicitly. The term at […] Continue Reading →
Claim construction from different case against different defendant applies in subsequent case In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's construction of a patent claim in an infringement case. However, the court vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement and remanded. The Federal Circuit held that a prior interpretation of the claim in a suit against a different alleged infringer required […] Continue Reading →
Intrinsic evidence supported pre-Phillips claim construction; finding of noninfringement affirmed In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's finding of noninfringement. The only disputed issue was one of claim construction. Although the district court issued its claim construction ruling before the Federal Circuit's Phillips decision and relied exclusively on a definition from a technical dictionary for its construction of the relevant term, […] Continue Reading →
Claim construction and noninfringement affirmed on one patent, vacated on another In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit vacated a district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement of one patent and affirmed summary judgment of noninfringement of another. The determinations turned on the construction of one claim element in each patent.In the first patent, the court held that there was sufficient disclosure in the […] Continue Reading →
Claim term construed by construing different term in specification deleted from claim In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed-in-part and vacated-in-part a district court's summary judgment of noninfringement based on a revised claim construction of two claim terms. The court, in somewhat of a departure from its typical practice, also construed one additional term that appeared likely to be relevant on remand, but which did […] Continue Reading →
Hybrid vehicle patent not infringed; invalidity issues need not be reached on appeal from ITC In an appeal from the International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Commission's determination of noninfringement of a patent. The court, however, did not consider the ITC's finding of nonenablement on appeal. While in the context of a district court case a counterclaim for invalidity is not mooted by a finding of noninfringement, the […] Continue Reading →
District court’s claim construction too narrow, but noninfringement finding affirmed anyway In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit held that a district court construed a claim limitation too narrowly. However, even under the broader construction, summary judgment was still appropriate, because there was no genuine issue of fact that the accused method still did not practice that element, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. […] Continue Reading →
Two district courts, one correct claim construction; $103 million damage award vacated In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit reversed a jury verdict of willful infringement and a total award of over $100 million based on a modified claim construction. The court also reversed the finding that one asserted claim was not anticipated, and remanded the case for a redetermination of infringement and whether the remaining claims […] Continue Reading →
Preamble not limiting when duplicative of claim limitations and not added to overcome rejection In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit held that a district court erred in its construction of several claim terms in a patent, and as a result, vacated the district court's summary judgment of noninfringement and no invalidity. The court affirmed the district court's decisions regarding several other issues, including laches, inequitable conduct, and inventorship. […] Continue Reading →