Case Name: TRAFFIX DEVICES, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LAKESIDE PLASTICS, INC., Defendant-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2008-04-14
Citations: 276 F. App'x 972
Docket Number: No. 2007-1482
Parties: TRAFFIX DEVICES, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LAKESIDE PLASTICS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
Judges: 
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 276
Pages: 972–973

Head Matter:
TRAFFIX DEVICES, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LAKESIDE PLASTICS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
No. 2007-1482.
United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.
April 14, 2008.
Before GAJARSA, Circuit Judge, ARCHER, Senior Circuit Judge, and DYK, Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
ORDER
It is ordered that the district court's judgment is affirmed in all respects.
We note, however, that the district court improperly construed the term "knob" in U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,673 ("the '673 patent") to mean "a rounded protuberance capable of being gripped by an entire hand since the width of the rounded protuberance must be greater than the width of a shaft with sufficient length to permit all of the fingers of an average adult hand to be wrapped thereabout." This construction was error. As the district court noted, "the purpose of the knob is primarily to prevent a user's hand from slipping off of the end of the shaft." '673 patent col. 4, 11. 11-12. This does not mean that the knob must be large enough such that an average adult hand can be wrapped around the knob. All that is required is that the knob be large enough to keep a user's hand from slipping off the end of the shaft. However, the district court's erroneous claim construction does not affect its judgment of noninfringement.