Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-cv-00162/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-cv-00162-80/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1338 Patent Infringement

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

NICHIA CORPORATION,

Plaintiff,

 v.

SEOUL SEMICONDUCTOR CO., LTD., et

al.,

Defendants

 /

No. C-06-0162 MMC

ORDER CONSTRUING CLAIMS 

In the above-titled action, plaintiff Nichia Corporation alleges that defendants Seoul

Semiconductor Co., Ltd., and Seoul Semiconductor, Inc., have infringed four design

patents. Before the Court are the parties’ respective proposed claim constructions, each

filed August 7, 2007, pursuant to the Court’s order of August 1, 2007.

 “In construing a design patent claim, the scope of the claimed design encompasses

its visual appearance as a whole, and in particular the visual impression it creates.” 

Contessa Food Products, Inc. v. Conagra, Inc., 282 F. 3d 1370, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2002)

(internal quotation and citation omitted). A proper claim construction consists of a “verbal

description” of the visual impression created by the claimed design. See Durling v.

Spectrum Furniture Co., 101 F. 3d 100, 104 (Fed. Cir. 1996).

Having considered the parties’ respective filings, as well as the portions of the

parties’ pending motions for summary judgment in which claim construction issues are

addressed, the Court construes the design claims as follows:

Case 3:06-cv-00162-MMC Document 664 Filed 08/22/07 Page 1 of 4
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In its proposed claim construction, plaintiff refers to said two elements as

“brackets”; in their proposed claim construction, defendants refer to said two elements as

“structure.” Both parties, however, in their respective pending motions for summary

judgment, refer to said two elements more specifically as “electrodes.” (See Defs.’ Mot. for

Summ. J., filed June 15, 2006, at 5:12, 17, 24-26; Pl.’s Mot. for Summ. J., filed June 16,

2006, at 4:1-2, 13:15-16.)

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A. United States Design Patent No. 491,538 (“‘538 Patent”)

The Court construes the ‘538 Patent as claiming an ornamental design for a light

emitting diode (“LED”) comprising:

(1) an elongated generally rectangular body having:

(a) a rear portion with top, bottom, and side surfaces that taper inwardly, and

which portion is joined to a front portion by a parting line that bisects the body lengthwise,

(b) the center section of its rear surface recessed and tapered outwardly

toward the left and right sections of the rear surface,

(c) its rear surface having a circular protrusion centered thereon, the circular

protrusion being centered on a rearwardly-extended square surface and being flanked by a

rectangular recess to its left and by a rectangular recess to its right, and the outer surface

of the circular protrusion having the contour of a smooth wave form,

(d) the lateral ends of its bottom surface raised,

(e) a small angled cathode mark at the upper left front corner of the front

portion, wherein the cathode mark, when viewed from the front, forms an isosceles right

triangle, and when viewed from the top or from the left side, forms a square, and

(f) its front surface having an elongated opaque window with peaked top and

bottom rims and circularly-curved left and right rims; and

(2) two spaced-apart substantially right-angled electrodes,1

 one on either side of the

body, each electrode:

(a) protruding laterally from the body, and

(b) having a vertical leg and a substantially horizontal leg joined by a curved

radius such that the electrode has an “L” shape when viewed from the right side of the LED

and a backward “L” shape when viewed from the left side of the LED, the vertical and

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substantially horizontal legs having parallel, flat, exposed surfaces, the substantially

horizontal leg extending rearwardly and being substantially flush with the body’s bottom

surface, a portion of the substantially horizontal leg extending below the lateral end of the

raised bottom surface of the body, the vertical leg having a flat top and a rounded outer

corner, and the height of the vertical leg being more than a majority of the body’s height.

B. United States Design Patent No. 490,784 (“‘748 Patent”)

The Court construes the ‘748 Patent as claiming an ornamental design for an LED

comprising:

(1) an elongated generally rectangular body having:

(a) a rear portion with top, bottom, and side surfaces that taper inwardly, and

which portion is joined to a front portion by a parting line that bisects the body lengthwise,

(b) the center section of its rear surface recessed and tapered outwardly

toward the left and right sections of the rear surface,

(c) the lateral ends of its bottom surface raised, and

(d) its front surface having an elongated opaque window with peaked top and

bottom rims and circularly-curved left and right rims; and

(2) two spaced-apart substantially right-angled electrodes, one on either side of the

body, each electrode:

(a) protruding laterally from the body, and

(b) having a vertical leg and a substantially horizontal leg joined by a curved

radius such that the electrode has an “L” shape when viewed from the right side of the LED

and a backward “L” shape when viewed from the left side of the LED, the vertical and

substantially horizontal legs having parallel, flat, exposed surfaces, the substantially

horizontal leg extending rearwardly and being substantially flush with the body’s bottom

surface, a portion of the substantially horizontal leg extending below the lateral end of the

raised bottom surface of the body, the vertical leg having a flat top and a rounded outer

corner, and the height of the vertical leg being more than a majority of the body’s height.

//

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Although, as noted, the claimed design is a “design for a light emitting diode,” see

‘388 Patent at 1, col. 2, the patentee has illustrated the body of the LED in broken lines,

thus indicating the body is “immaterial” to the claimed design, see In re Blum, 374 F. 2d

904, 907 (C.C.P.A. 1967), i.e., that the scope of the claimed design is limited to the

electrode portions of the LED.

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C. United States Design Patent No. 503,388 (“‘388 Patent”)

The Court construes the ‘388 Patent as claiming an ornamental design for an LED

comprising two spaced-apart right-angled electrodes, each electrode being laterally

attached to the body of an LED2 and having a vertical leg and a horizontal leg joined by a

curved radius such that the electrode has an “L” shape when viewed from one side of the

LED and a backward “L” shape when viewed from the other side of the LED, the vertical leg

and horizontal leg having parallel, flat, exposed surfaces, the horizontal leg extending

rearwardly, a portion of the horizontal leg protruding inwardly, and the vertical leg having a

flat top and a rounded outer corner.

D. United States Design Patent No. 499,385 (“‘385 Patent”)

The Court construes the ‘385 Patent as claiming an ornamental design for an LED

comprising two spaced-apart substantially right-angled electrodes, each electrode being

laterally attached to the body of an LED, and having a vertical leg and a substantially

horizontal leg joined by a curved radius such that the electrode has an “L” shape when

viewed from one side of the LED and a backward “L” shape when viewed from the other

side of the LED, the vertical leg and substantially horizontal leg having parallel, flat,

exposed surfaces, the substantially horizontal leg extending rearwardly, a portion of the

substantially horizontal leg protruding inwardly, and the vertical leg having a flat top and a

rounded outer corner.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 22, 2007 

MAXINE M. CHESNEY

United States District Judge

Case 3:06-cv-00162-MMC Document 664 Filed 08/22/07 Page 4 of 4