Opinion ID: 2230069
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: means-plus-function construction

Text: New Tek's third assignment of error is that the district court erred in construing element 4, claim 22, of the '080 patent as a means-plus-function element. Whether an element of a claim is in means-plus-function format is a matter of claim construction and is thus a question of law, reviewed de novo by an appellate court. Kemco Sales Inc. v. Control Papers Co., Inc., 208 F.3d 1352 (Fed.Cir.2000). In a de novo review, an appellate court reaches a conclusion independent of the trial court. Whipps Land & Cattle Co. v. Level 3 Communications, 265 Neb. 472, 658 N.W.2d 258 (2003). To understand New Tek's argument, it is necessary to explain what is meant by a means-plus-function element of a patent claim. Generally, an applicant for a patent is required to describe an invention in full, clear, and concise terms and conclude the specification with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 2. In Halliburton Co. v. Walker, 329 U.S. 1, 67 S.Ct. 6, 91 L.Ed. 3 (1946), the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the use of exclusively functional language to describe crucial elements of a combination claim, i.e., a claim for an invention comprised of a combination of separate elements. The Court held that a patent failed to satisfy the requirements of distinctiveness and specificity in a combination claim when a crucial element was described in terms of what it would do, rather than in terms of its physical characteristics or arrangement in the invention. See id. In response, Congress enacted § 112, ¶ 6, providing that [a]n element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof. This new language permitted a patent applicant to express an element in a combination claim as a means for performing a function. The applicant need not recite structure, material, or acts in the claim's means-plus-function element. See Valmont Industries, Inc. v. Reinke Mfg. Co., Inc., 983 F.2d 1039 (Fed.Cir.1993). However, a claim element described as a means for performing a function, if read literally, could encompass any conceivable means for performing the function. See id. In order to narrow the literal scope of such a recitation, the applicant must describe in the patent specification some structure which performs the specified function. See id. In short, a patent applicant must conclude the specification of his or her invention with one or more claims particularly describing the invention. Such a claim may be for an invention consisting of a combination of different elements. An element may be expressed in terms of a means for performing a function, so long as the specification contains some description of a structure that performs that function. Such an element is a means-plus-function element. The word means is part of the classic template for means-plus-function elements. Rodime PLC v. Seagate Technology, Inc., 174 F.3d 1294 (Fed.Cir.1999). The use of the word means in an element of a claim gives rise to a presumption that § 112, ¶ 6, applies. TI Group Automotive Systems v. VDO North America, 375 F.3d 1126 (Fed.Cir.2004), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1305, 161 L.Ed.2d 109 (2005). Two specific rules, however, overcome that presumption. First, a claim element that uses the word means but recites no function corresponding to the means does not invoke § 112, ¶ 6. Second, even if the claim element specifies a function, if it also recites sufficient structure or material for performing that function, § 112, ¶ 6, does not apply. Rodime PLC, supra . It is the second exception that is implicated in this case. According to its express terms, § 112, ¶ 6, governs only claim elements that do not recite sufficient structural limitations. Al-Site Corp. v. VSI Intern., Inc., 174 F.3d 1308 (Fed.Cir.1999). Therefore, the presumption that § 112, ¶ 6, applies is overcome if the claim itself recites sufficient structure or material for performing the claimed function. Al-Site Corp., supra . In other words, a specification containing an alleged means-plus-function claim element must also recite a description of a structure for performing that function, but to invoke § 112, ¶ 6, the claim element itself must not recite a definite structure which performs the described function. See, TI Group Automotive Systems, supra ; Cole v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 102 F.3d 524 (Fed.Cir.1996). With those principles in mind, we turn to the specific language of the '080 patent disputed by the parties. Claim 22 of the '080 patent describes a guidance device for a tractor-drawn implement and contains four elements. The first three elements of claim 22 are (1) a horizontal elongated member having means for attachment to the front end of a farm implement; (2) a means for increasing the distance between one end of the elongated member and the tractor and decreasing the distance between the other end of the elongated member and the tractor, including two articulated members, each of which includes an elongated arm pivotally connected to one side of the tractor and a lever pivotally connected to one side of the elongated member; and (3) a means, connected to the elongated member and responsive to lateral movements of the elongated member in relation to the crop rows, for transmitting signals to the means for controlling the distance between the elongated member and the tractor. The dispute here concerns element 4, which is a means activated by said signal transmitting means for pivoting said levers oppositely and proportionally directionwise about their pivotal connections to said elongated member, further including: a first hydraulic cylinder pivotally connected at one end to the free end of the lever of said first articulated member and pivotally connected at the other end to said elongated member at a point spaced away from the pivotal connection of said first member lever to said elongated member; and a second hydraulic cylinder pivotally connected at one end to said elongated member and pivotally connected at the other end to the lever of said second articulated member at a point spaced away from the pivotal connection of said lever to said elongated member. The district court concluded that element 4 was a means-plus-function element. The court concluded that while element 4 recited a detailed structure, it did not provide the structure necessary to perform the claimed function in its entirety. Therefore, the court concluded the presumption that element 4 was a means-plus-function element was not rebutted. See TI Group Automotive Systems v. VDO North America, 375 F.3d 1126 (Fed.Cir.2004), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 1305, 161 L.Ed.2d 109 (2005). We conclude that the district court correctly determined that the presumption of a means-plus-function element had not been rebutted. As the court noted, the function of element 4 is `pivoting said levers oppositely and proportionately directionwise about their pivotal connections to said elongated member.' The hydraulic cylinders recited in element 4 provide a means for moving each lever, but no structure to translate that movement in a directly proportional amount in the opposite direction. Instead, the structure disclosed in the specification includes a component not recited in element 4: a tie rod, attached to the top of the two levers, that serves to translate the movement to the opposing cylinder. Element 4 itself does not recite sufficient structure for performing the function of pivoting the levers oppositely and proportionally, because of the absence of any means of translating movement in the opposite direction to the opposing cylinder. In other words, element 4 does not recite sufficient structure to entirely perform the claimed function. See, TI Group Automotive Systems, supra ; Rodime PLC v. Seagate Technology, Inc., 174 F.3d 1294 (Fed. Cir.1999). The district court did not err in concluding New Tek had not overcome the presumption that element 4 was a means-plus-function element. See id. We reject New Tek's third assignment of error.