Opinion ID: 1042145
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: XRD Crystallinity

Text: Claim 15 requires a fluoropolymer tube “having an XRD crystallinity not greater than about 13%.” A brief discussion of X-ray diffraction (XRD) crystallinity is necessary to understand Rexam’s infringement arguments. XRD testing is one method of measuring the crystalline content of a material. An XRD test is conducted by striking a sample of the material with a monochromatic X-ray beam and examining the pattern of X-rays formed on a detection surface as the X-rays are scattered by the electrons of the atoms within the sample. The X-ray scattering is dependent on the atomic arrangement within the sample, and a more ordered pattern indicates a more ordered atomic structure. X-rays that diffract off of a crystalline polymer produce a ring-like pattern on the detection surface. X-rays that diffract off of an amorphous, or noncrystalline, structure appear as a “relatively broad amorphous ‘halo’” on the detection surface. Trial Op. at 18. The crystalline content of the polymer is then measured by comparing the relative intensities of the diffraction patterns. The construction of the terms “XRD crystallinity” and “crystalline content” is not in dispute. Rexam and MWV stipulated to construing the XRD terms as “crystallinity as measured by x-ray diffraction (XRD) using at least the XRD characterization parameters identified in the ’132 patent at column 4, line 66 to column 5, line 6.” Claim Op., 807 F. Supp. 2d at 543. The parameters referenced in the patent are: 16 MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION v. REXAM BEAUTY Voltage: 45 kV, Current: 40 mA, XRD Machine: Bruker D8 Discover w/Gadds Detector, 0.3 mm slit, 0.3 mm collimation, Cu Radiation, Goebel Mirror (parallel beams), 0.5 mm oscillation along tube length, 5 frames (~15°/frame), 72 sec- onds/frame, Omega=7°, midpoint for detection frames=14°, 29°, 44°, 59°, 74°. ’132 patent col. 5 ll. 1-6. The parties agree that the parameters listed in the ’132 patent are inadequate to fully describe an XRD test. For example, “[t]he patent specification does not provide the sample-to-detector distance, nor does it specify the software for the analysis of the XRD data and the calculation of the XRD crystallinity.” Trial Op. at 22. At trial on the issue of infringement, Rexam and MWV engaged in a battle of the experts on XRD crystallinity. Rexam’s expert, Dr. Ortega, placed his samples 15 cm away from the XRD detector and used the TOPAS software to analyze his results. Trial Op. at 38. MWV’s expert, Dr. Reibenspies, placed his samples 5 cm away from the XRD detector and used the GADDS Full Method software to analyze his results. Trial Op. at 41. Unsurprisingly, the experts arrived at different conclusions. Dr. Reibenspies found that Rexam’s V1 and V2 tubes had an XRD crystallinity of 8 to 9%, and therefore infringed the ’132 patent. Dr. Ortega opined that the crystallinity was 23 to 24%, and therefore concluded Rexam did not infringe the ’132 patent. Trial Op. at 38, 41. On appeal, Rexam argues that the district court erred in allowing testimony from MWV’s expert, Dr. Reibenspies, because he did not follow all of the testing parameters set forth in the ’132 patent. Rexam also argues that the court erred in finding infringement based on Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony. Finally, Rexam argues that the XRD crystallinity terms, as construed, are indefinite. We MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION v. REXAM BEAUTY 17 address Rexam’s first two arguments below. Indefiniteness is addressed at Part V, infra.
Rexam asked the district court to exclude infringement testimony from Dr. Reibenspies. MeadWestVaco Corp. v. Rexam PLC, 1:10-cv-511, ECF No. 411 (E.D. Va. Aug. 22, 2011) (Rexam Mot. to Exclude). The court allowed the testimony, finding it “relevant and admissible.” J.A. 7712. Here, Rexam argues again that this testimony should have been excluded because Dr. Reibenspies did not follow all of the XRD parameters listed in the ’132 patent. Therefore, according to Rexam, his testimony is legally irrelevant to proving infringement. Rexam Br. 55; see also Rexam Mot. to Exclude 3 (citing cases precluding testimony which tends to contradict a court’s claim construction). MWV counters that any differences between Dr. Reibenspies’s testing and the claims goes to proof of infringement, not admissibility. MWV Br. 59. Evidentiary rulings are reviewed under the law of the regional circuit. Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc. v. Medtronic, Inc., 265 F.3d 1294, 1308 (Fed. Cir. 2001). In the Fourth Circuit, the denial of an evidentiary motion in limine is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. White, 405 F.3d 208, 212 (4th Cir. 2005); Malone v. Microdyne Corp., 26 F.3d 471, 480 (4th Cir. 1994) (reviewing ruling on motion in limine for abuse of discretion). We agree with MWV that Rexam’s arguments go to infringement and not admissibility. Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony was not an attempt to apply a new claim construction to the XRD crystallinity terms. Dr. Reibenspies opined that using his testing parameters, which differed slightly from the claim construction, he was able to conclude that the V1 and V2 tubes infringed the ’132 patent when applying the court’s construction. Dr. Reibenspies’s deviations from the claim construction, discussed in more detail below, gave Rexam an opportunity to cast doubt 18 MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION v. REXAM BEAUTY upon his infringement conclusions, which Rexam did through cross-examination and opposing expert testimony. But it did not make Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony legally irrelevant. Rexam does not raise any other basis for excluding Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony. Because Rexam failed to show that the district court abused its discretion in allowing Dr. Reibenspies to testify, we affirm the court’s denial of Rexam’s motion to exclude.
Rexam’s noninfringement case centered solely on the XRD crystallinity limitation. The district court found that Rexam’s V1 and V2 tubes had an XRD crystallinity of less than 13%, and therefore infringed claims 15 and 19 of the ’132 patent. Trial Op. at 57. As discussed above, the XRD crystallinity limitation came down to a battle of the experts. The district court credited MWV’s expert and found Rexam’s expert unreliable. Trial Op. at 39-40. The trial court is given “broad discretion in determining credibility because the court saw the witnesses and heard their testimony.” Energy Capital Corp. v. United States, 302 F.3d 1314, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Rexam makes no effort to dislodge the court’s credibility findings. Instead, Rexam urges us to disregard Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony as legally irrelevant to infringement. We decline to do so. The court found that Dr. Reibenspies did not use the 0.3 mm slit, Goebel mirror or oscillator as required by the claim construction. Trial Op. at 41. At trial, Rexam cross-examined Dr. Reibenspies on each of differences between his test protocol and the claims. The testimony revealed that Dr. Reibenspies used alternate equipment to mimic the results achieved by claim parameters. For example, the combination of the 0.3 mm slit and Goebel mirror produce parallel X-ray beams 0.3 mm apart. Dr. Reibenspies used a graphite monochromator with a fixed slit to produce the same X-ray arrangement. See MWV MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION v. REXAM BEAUTY 19 Br. 56 (citing Dr. Reibenspies’s testimony); Trial Op. at 42. The same is true with regard to oscillation. Dr. Reibenspies’s XRD machine did not have an oscillator, so he manually repositioned the samples to mimic oscillation. Trial Op. at 41. The court found that Dr. Reibenspies’s testing “deviations were insignificant and could not have substantially affected the test results.” Trial Op. at 42. Rexam counters that “MWV presented no evidence quantifying how much the differences impacted the XRD crystallinity results.” Rexam Reply Br. 12. While it is true that MWV did not quantify the differences, MWV did present testimony that Dr. Reibenspies’s protocol “would have had only a minor effect on the test results.” Trial Op. at 42. The court credited this testimony as “reasonable,” id., and Rexam has not pointed to any clear error in that conclusion. We find no reversible error in the district court’s analysis, and therefore affirm the finding of infringement.