Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/758/613/63604/
Timestamp: 2020-01-21 13:53:56
Document Index: 13776184

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 102', '§ 102', '§ 112', '§ 102', '§ 103', '§ 102', '§ 288', '§ 112', '§ 285', '§ 284', '§ 285', '§ 285']

Shatterproof Glass Corporation, Appellee/cross-appellant, v. Libbey-owens Ford Company and Leybold-heraeus Gmbh,appellants/cross-appellees, 758 F.2d 613 (Fed. Cir. 1985) :: Justia
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Shatterproof Glass Corporation, Appellee/cross-appellant, v. Libbey-owens Ford Company and Leybold-heraeus Gmbh,appellants/cross-appellees, 758 F.2d 613 (Fed. Cir. 1985)
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - 758 F.2d 613 (Fed. Cir. 1985) March 29, 1985
LOF challenges the jury's holding that the claims in suit of the Apparatus and Method patents are valid, and argues on appeal that both patents are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 102 and Sec. 103; that both patents are invalid due to violation of the "on sale" provision of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b); that both patents are invalid for failure to name the correct inventors; and that both patents are invalid for claim indefiniteness in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 112. Errors are assigned to the jury instructions and to the trial judge's management of pre-trial and trial procedures, pertinent to the asserted invalidity of the patents.
In deciding a duly filed motion for judgment n.o.v. upon a jury's determination that a patent is valid (i.e. has not been proven invalid), the district court must determine, without substituting its views for those of the jury when resolving conflicts in the evidence, whether in light of the evidence reasonable persons could have found the facts necessary to support the jury's verdict, or whether the facts properly found can in law support the verdict. Weinar v. Rollform Inc., 744 F.2d 797, 805, 223 USPQ 369, 373 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
In reviewing a decision denying a motion for judgment n.o.v. we do not approach the issues as if there had been no trial. We review the evidence as a whole, and ascertain whether the verdict is in accordance with law, and whether there was substantial evidence in support of the jury's verdict. In the case at bar there was conflicting testimony and argument on essentially all material facts, and due deference must be given to the opportunity of jury and trial judge to have observed the witnesses and viewed the exhibits over a lengthy trial. Railroad Dynamics, Inc. v. A. Stucki Co., 727 F.2d 1506, 1513, 220 USPQ 929, 936 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S. Ct. 220, 83 L. Ed. 2d 150, 224 USPQ 520 (1984).
Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 requires that there be an identity of invention, which presents a question of fact for the jury. LOF produced some twenty-one references at trial in support of invalidity due to anticipation or obviousness, and concentrates on eight of these on this appeal: Colbert et al. U.S. Patent No. 2,676,117; a 1964 Heraeus catalog; an article by Schroder entitled "Large-Area Coating of Glass for Modification of its Transmittance", published in 39 Glastechnische Berichte 156-158 (1966); Small et al. U.S. Patent No. 4,015,558; an IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin by Byrne et al. entitled "Continuous Parallel-Plate RF Sputtering System", Vol. 13, No. 4 (September 1970) 1034-35; a Leybold-Heraeus publication entitled "RF and DC Sputtering Plants Using the Diode Principle" (April 12, 1971); Hammond et al. U.S. Patent No. 3,584,847; and a document entitled "Contributions of Leybold-Heraeus to the Second International Electron Beam Seminar, June 26-29, 1972, Frankfurt, Germany."
LOF raised no objection to this instruction.1 From the jury's verdict of patent validity, it is presumed that the jury found that no prior art reference completely embodied the process or apparatus of the claims in suit. Perkin-Elmer Corp. v. Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 894, 221 USPQ 669, 673-74 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S. Ct. 187, 83 L. Ed. 2d 120 (1984). We have reviewed the references and the evidence, and conclude that a reasonable jury could have found that none of the references anticipates the claimed inventions.
Both sides explained to the jury that a determination under 35 U.S.C. § 103 requires inquiries into the scope and content of the prior art, the level of ordinary skill in the art, and the differences between the claimed inventions and the prior art. Witnesses explained the references, and there was extensive testimony and argument relating to the factual inquiries pertinent to obviousness.
LOF objects that this instruction was erroneous, and caused the jury to ignore the references relating to coating of silicon wafers for electronics purposes. The instruction left to the jury the factual determination of analogous art, which was correctly defined in the charge. The jury was correctly advised to look first to the nature of the problem confronting the inventor. Orthopedic Equipment Co. v. United States, 702 F.2d 1005, 1009, 217 USPQ 193, 196 (Fed. Cir. 1983). If the reference is not within the field of the inventor's endeavor, one looks at whether the field of the reference is reasonably pertinent to the problem the inventor is trying to solve. Union Carbide Corp. v. American Can Co., 724 F.2d 1567, 1572, 200 USPQ 584, 588 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
LOF asks on appeal that we review and give controlling weight as prior art to certain German documents relating to Leybold-Heraeus' operations. The record on these documents is thin, apparently because of the exclusion of a witness for violation of a sequestration order. The provenance, status as prior art, and weight to be given these documents was before the jury and the trial judge. We may not base a decision on evidence that was properly excluded at trial. Nothing in our recent decision in Quaker City Gear Works v. Skil Corp., 747 F.2d 1446, 223 USPQ 1161 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cited by LOF under Rule 16 of this court, is to the contrary.
In the face of conflicting evidence, testimony, expert opinion, and argument, the jury found each of the four Apparatus and four Method claims valid. As this court said in Railroad Dynamics, 727 F.2d at 1514, 220 USPQ at 937, " [t]hat there may have been trial evidence favorable to both sides ... is simply irrelevant." We do not determine whether a jury could have reached a different verdict, but whether there is substantial evidence for the verdict that it reached. Lavender v. Kurn, 327 U.S. 645, 653, 66 S. Ct. 740, 744, 90 L. Ed. 916 (1946). Our review of the record shows that there was substantial evidence on which a reasonable jury could have found facts consistent with its conclusion of non-obviousness. We do not find reversible error in the court's denial of LOF's motion for judgment n.o.v. on this issue.
LOF asserts that patentability is barred because the products of the patented Method and Apparatus were "on sale", within the terms of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), more than one year before the applicable filing date of September 25, 1973. There were prior patent applications on file as early as September 8, 1970, and the jury was instructed concerning the various filings and their significance, including those issues relating to the effect of inventorship on the right to priority of earlier filings. Although Shatterproof continues to argue its entitlement to earlier filing dates, the evidence and argument were concentrated on a critical date of September 25, 1972, which is the date most favorable to LOF's position.
The clear weight of authority is that a bare offer to sell does not ipso facto satisfy the "on sale" bar, and that the surrounding circumstances must be considered. In Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik AG v. Murata Machinery, Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 221 USPQ 561 (Fed. Cir. 1984) the bar was found where the offer to sell was accompanied by a "makeshift" model embodying all aspects of the patented product. In D.L. Auld Co. v. Chroma Graphics Corp., 714 F.2d 1144, 1151, 219 USPQ 13, 18 (Fed. Cir. 1983), an offer to sell was accompanied by samples of the product made by the patented method; the court held that it did not matter that the product was not in mass production, where there was "crucial testimony that every step of the claimed method was followed". In In re Dybel, 524 F.2d 1393, 1400, 187 USPQ 593, 598 (CCPA 1975), where as here a sales contract had been entered into before the critical date, the court held that "for an invention of the type involved here to be 'on sale,' it must be complete at least to such an extent that the purchaser knows how it will perform." As stated in General Electric Co. v. United States, 228 Ct. Cl. 192, 654 F.2d 55, 60 n. 8, 211 USPQ 867, 872 n. 8 (1981), the invention must have been "sufficiently tested to demonstrate that it will work for its intended purpose."
The district court explained to the jury, in the context of the specific situation before them, that the section 102 bar applies to "a completed invention that has been shown to be commercially useful for the purpose intended." The controversy concerning the timing and significance and completion of the test and start-up activities had been presented to trial judge and jury, in extensive and contested detail. The jury instruction focused attention on the factual question critical to this case, that is, whether the offers of sale involved "functional machines and processes". As observed in Structural Rubber Products Co. v. Park Rubber Co., 749 F.2d 707, 723, 223 USPQ 1264, 1276 (Fed. Cir. 1984), "the duty of a trial court in any jury trial is to give instructions which are meaningful, not in terms of some abstract case, but which can be understood and given effect by the jury once it resolves the issues of fact which are in dispute." The determination of when the Shatterproof apparatus and process first functioned for its intended purpose depended on an evaluation of the evidence and the testimony. LOF invites us to draw adverse inferences from certain evidence or its lack; indeed, we observe that the jury was similarly invited. It is not our province to reweigh the evidence, nor to decide facts which depend on credibility of witnesses.
LOF asserts error in the court's treatment of LOF's position that both patents are invalid or unenforceable for failure to name the correct inventors. LOF asserts that the named inventors did not themselves invent the substrate holder, the poppet valves, or the conveyor design, but that these contributions originated with Shatterproof engineers or with equipment manufacturers. LOF charges Shatterproof with inequitable conduct and patent unenforceability based on Shatterproof's failure to disclaim certain claims of the Apparatus patent after this challenge was raised. LOF also contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow testimony or to charge the jury that 35 U.S.C. § 288, which provides for the recovery of costs upon a successful infringement action, does not apply to the Apparatus patent due to this asserted deceptive intent in the designation of inventorship.
Our review shows that there was substantial evidence on which a reasonable jury could have found that the inventors were correctly named. An inventor "may use the services, ideas, and aid of others in the process of perfecting his invention without losing his right to a patent." Hobbs v. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., 451 F.2d 849 at 864, 171 USPQ at 724 (5 Cir. 1971). Nor do we consider that it was incumbent upon Shatterproof to disclaim, during the course of the litigation, claims subject to this controverted inventorship challenge.
LOF argues that the Method and Apparatus patent claims are indefinite and thus invalid for failure to comply with the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, in that they do not recite the size of the glass sheets or the quantity or quality of the coating, and that the words "freely supporting" in the method claims are vague and indefinite.
There was testimony and expert opinion at trial on the question of whether the claims adequately defined the invention. The specifications of both patents state that the thickness of the coating is in the range of 50 to 400 angstroms, and that a thicker coating would impair the transmission of visible light and thinner coatings would not significantly reduce solar radiation transmittance. Concerning the size of the glass sheets, the specifications state that "the products of primary concern are architectural glass, vehicle windows, and oven windows...." LOF's assertions that the claims are vague and indefinite in the term "freely supported" was also controverted by reference to the specifications. The amount of detail required to be included in claims depends on the particular invention and the prior art, and is not to be viewed in the abstract but in conjunction with whether the specification is in compliance with the first paragraph of section 112: "If the claims, read in the light of the specifications, reasonably apprise those skilled in the art both of the utilization and scope of the invention, and if the language is as precise as the subject matter permits, the courts can demand no more." Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. United States Plywood Corp., 258 F.2d 124, 136, 118 USPQ 122, 132 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 884, 79 S. Ct. 124, 3 L. Ed. 2d 112, 119 USPQ 501 (1958). Compliance with the second paragraph of section 112 is generally a question of law, and we observe no failure of compliance on the record before us, and no basis on section 112 grounds for disturbing the jury's verdict.
Both infringement and equivalence are questions of fact. We have reviewed whether substantial evidence supports the jury verdict of infringement. Connell v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 722 F.2d 1542, 1546, 220 USPQ 193, 197 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Viewing the evidence as a whole, we conclude that a reasonable jury could have found the claims of both patents infringed, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, by LOF's Clinton Coater. We do not find reversible error in the court's denial of LOF's motions for judgment n.o.v. or a new trial on this issue.
LOF appeals from the district court's denial of its motions to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial, and asserts that the court erred in charging the jury, as well as in excluding evidence and issues. If prejudicial error occurred, or if the verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence, as an alternative to judgment n.o.v. a new trial may be granted, in the discretion of the trial judge. On review, we determine whether that discretion has been abused. Fairmont Glass Works v. Cub Ford Coal Co., 287 U.S. 474, 53 S. Ct. 252, 77 L. Ed. 439 (1933).
In reviewing the court's denial of new trial, we review the jury instructions as a whole to determine whether clear error occurred, such that the jury was misled. Railroad Dynamics, 727 F.2d at 1512, 1517, 220 USPQ 929 at 934, 939 (Fed. Cir. 1984). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 61. LOF challenges the correctness of the instructions on obviousness, duties of candor and disclosure, reduction to practice, claim indefiniteness, LH publications as prior art, prior knowledge as prior art, and definition of the relevant art field. Most of these instructions have been discussed ante, and we discern no fundamental error in their substance, nor any abuse of the trial court's discretion in its management of this complex trial.
[I]t must be left to the sound discretion of the trial court what form of verdict to request of a jury. Weinar v. Rollform, Inc. [744 F.2d 797, 809], Nos. 84-515/526, slip op. at 35 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 17, 1984). Thus, we have held that a trial court may, with proper instructions, present a patent case to a jury for a general verdict encompassing all of the issues of validity and infringement, Railroad Dynamics, 727 F.2d at 1514-15, 220 USPQ at 937-38, or may ask for a general answer on one or more specific legal issues, such as obviousness, a practice not specifically provided for in the Federal Rules. Id. at 1516, 220 USPQ at 938-39.
LOF also asserts that the court's management of discovery was to LOF's detriment. Shatterproof had taken the position that certain documents were nondiscoverable; the trial judge, after in camera inspection, ordered Shatterproof to produce several documents, but found others to be duplicates or protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege or work product exemption. LOF maintains that its motion to compel production of documents demonstrated a prima facie case of inequitable conduct before the PTO, which vitiates Shatterproof's attorney-client privilege and work product exemption. The trial judge made no such finding, and LOF has not persuaded us of a clear abuse of discretion in the trial judge's management of discovery. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26.
LOF asserts that the trial court erred in denying LOF's summary judgment motion on U.S. Patent No. 3,826,728, the Coating patent, and in refusing LOF's request for attorneys' fees since the Coating patent count was dismissed with prejudice on Shatterproof's motion. We see no abuse of discretion in this action, W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1559, 220 USPQ 303, 317 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S. Ct. 172, 83 L. Ed. 2d 107 (1984), particularly since the record shows that the Coating patent was added to this action by stipulation and was dismissed with LOF's consent.
The instructions to the jury on damages were lengthy, and referred to the provision of 35 U.S.C. § 285 that a patent owner is entitled to no less than a reasonable royalty. LOF did not and does not object to this principle, but does object that the measure of 5% of gross sales rather than 4% of net sales was not supported by evidence.
The court denied LOF's motions for judgment n.o.v. or a new trial on this point. We have reviewed the record as a whole, and conclude that the jury rendered a reasonable decision. As noted in Weinar, 744 F.2d at 808, 223 USPQ at 375, " [j]ury damage awards, unless the product of passion and prejudice, are not easily overturned or modified on appeal." The record before us does not support the conclusion that the jury's damage award was speculative or unreasonable, or unsupported by substantial evidence.
Shatterproof cross-appeals from the denial of its motion to treble the amount of damages awarded, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284, and its motion to award attorney fees in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 285. Jury trial on these issues had been waived.
Shatterproof contends that the record conclusively established willful infringement as a matter of law, based on LOF's admission that it was aware of both of the patents in suit prior to sale of any infringing product, and the admission that LOF did not seek the opinion of patent counsel before construction of the Clinton Coater. Shatterproof argues that LOF decided to risk liability for infringement because of the projected high profit margin, and because Leybold-Heraeus assertedly agreed to hold Libby-Owens Ford "harmless" if charged with infringement. Shatterproof refers to Rosemount, Inc. v. Beckman Instruments, Inc., 727 F.2d 1540, 221 USPQ 1 (Fed. Cir. 1984) which upheld the award of treble damages and attorney fees on a showing of willful infringement.
LOF responds that its awareness of the patents was only "technical", that its patent staff routinely monitors patent activity in all areas of glass technology, but that its key people on the Clinton Coater project were not aware of the patents until this litigation arose. LOF contends that it did not have actual notice of the Shatterproof patents, as required in Underwater Devices Inc. v. Morrison-Knudsen Co., Inc., 717 F.2d 1380, 219 USPQ 569 (Fed. Cir. 1983). LOF also challenges Shatterproof's characterization of the LH contract provision as a "hold harmless" undertaking.
The district court also denied Shatterproof's motion under 35 U.S.C. § 285 for attorney fees. Shatterproof contends that misconduct by LOF during litigation justifies such an award. Indeed, each side has criticized the litigation tactics of the other. An award of attorney fees is discretionary with the court, Hughes v. Novi American, Inc., 724 F.2d 122, 124, 220 USPQ 707, 709 (Fed. Cir. 1984), and section 285 requires that such discretion be exercised only upon a finding of exceptional circumstances. Stevenson v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 713 F.2d 705, 712-13, 218 USPQ 969, 975 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Our review of the record supports the district court's exercise of judicial discretion.
LOF is thus precluded from asserting error in the instruction on appeal from the denial of its motion for a new trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 51