Opinion ID: 4523913
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: “means for generating”

Text: Asserted claims 18, 34 and 55 of the ’125 patent recite “a means for generating” a paresthesia-free or non-paresthesia-producing therapy signal. Claim 18 of the ’125 patent is illustrative and recites: 18. A spinal cord modulation system for reducing or eliminating pain in a patient, the system com- prising: means for generating a paresthesia-free therapy signal with a signal frequency in a range from 1.5 kHz to 100 kHz; and means for delivering the therapy signal to the pa- tient’s spinal cord at a vertebral level of from T9 to T12, wherein the means for delivering the therapy signal is at least partially implantable. (emphasis added). The parties agreed before the district court that these claim terms are means-plus-function terms under 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 6, having a function of “generating” the claimed paresthesia-free therapy signal. Nevro identified the corresponding structure as a pulse generator and Boston Scientific identified the structure as “a signal generator configured to generate.” The district court nonetheless determined that there was “not an adequate disclosure of a corresponding structure in the patent Case: 18-2220 Document: 69 Page: 13 Filed: 04/09/2020 NEVRO CORP. v. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP. 13 specification” and sua sponte held indefinite claims 18, 34, and 55 of the ’125 patent J.A. 11. It held that the patents’ disclosures of a “generic signal generator” as the corresponding structure” was “not sufficient” because signal generators were “already known in the prior art.” Id. Because the district court relied only on the intrinsic record, we review the district court’s indefiniteness determination de novo. BASF, 875 F.3d at 1365. Pre-AIA section 112 ¶ 6 allows a patentee to express an element of a claim as a means for performing a specified function. 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 6 (2006). In exchange for using this form of claiming, the patent specification must disclose with sufficient particularity the corresponding structure for performing the claimed function and clearly link that structure to the function. See Ibormeith IP, LLC v. Mercedes–Benz USA, LLC, 732 F.3d 1376, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2013). If the function is performed by a general-purpose computer or microprocessor, then the specification must also disclose the algorithm that the computer performs to accomplish that function. Aristocrat Techs. Australia Pty. Ltd. v. Int’l Game Tech., 521 F.3d 1328, 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2008). Nevro argues that the asserted patent specifications’ disclosure of a signal generator as the structure for this limitation should end the inquiry. We agree. The only case the district court cites in holding to the contrary, Aristocrat Techs., 521 F.3d at 1333, addresses only whether a generalpurpose computer or processor, without a corresponding algorithm, can provide structure for computer-implemented inventions. It does not require a specific algorithm when the identified structure is not a general-purpose computer or processor. Here, the specification clearly recites a signal or pulse generator, not a general-purpose computer or processor, as the structure for the claimed “generating” function. See, e.g., ’125 patent at 3:54–5:45. The specification teaches further how to configure the signal generators to Case: 18-2220 Document: 69 Page: 14 Filed: 04/09/2020 14 NEVRO CORP. v. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP. generate and deliver the claimed signals using the recited parameters, clearly linking the structure to the recited function. See, e.g., ’125 patent at 6:56–7:10. Boston Scientific does not dispute that the corresponding structure is a signal/pulse generator configured to generate. Instead, it argues that this term renders the claims indefinite for the same reasons it contends “configured to” render the asserted claims indefinite. Appellees’ Br. 38– 39. For the reasons discussed above, this contention is unavailing. We hold that the district court erred in holding indefinite claims 18, 34 and 55 of the ’125 patent. We construe the claim term “means for generating” as a meansplus-function term, having a function of “generating” and a structure of “a signal/pulse generator configured to generate” the claimed signals.