Opinion ID: 2668864
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “object model”

Text: The district court construed “object model” as “[a] template with a predetermined standardized structure both relating to an object-oriented software application and including object classes and inheritance relationships among classes.” DataTern agreed that SAP’s BusinessObMICROSOFT CORPORATION v. DATATERN, INC. 15 jects does not infringe the asserted claims if “object model” requires “object classes,” and the district court entered summary judgment accordingly. 4 On appeal, DataTern asserts that the district court erred by requiring the object model to include “classes.” 5 It contends that the specification broadly defines “object model” as “a template with a predetermined standardized structure.” See ’502 patent col. 2 ll. 40–42. DataTern asserts that the court’s construction improperly excludes the preferred embodiment of an object model shown in Figure 3 of the ’502 patent. In particular, DataTern points out that Figure 3 depicts an object model having class attributes, such as “CPerson.name,” but not having class behaviors. DataTern argues that because the parties also stipulated to a construction of “class” that requires attributes and behaviors, an “object model” that does not include class behaviors cannot be construed to require classes. 4 DataTern also agreed that BusinessObjects does not infringe the asserted claims of the ’502 patent based on the district court’s claim construction of two other terms, “to create at least one interface object” and “runtime engine.” Because our construction of “object model” is sufficient to affirm the judgment of noninfringement of the ’502 patent, we do not reach the construction of these other terms. 5 DataTern also challenges the district court’s determination that object model requires inheritance relationships among classes and that the object model be related to the object-oriented software application. Because the requirement of classes is dispositive, we do not address the other aspects of the court’s claim construction of object model. 16 MICROSOFT CORPORATION v. DATATERN, INC. We agree with SAP that the district court properly construed “object model” to require classes. The plain and ordinary meaning of “object model” requires classes. All of the evidence on record supports this understanding of the plain and ordinary meaning. SAP’s expert opined that the “object model” was a well-known term of art and was understood to include a “collection of classes.” J.A. in appeal no. 2013-1185 (J.A. (SAP)), at 1091–93, 1125. Even the inventor of the ’502 patent testified, contrary to DataTern’s assertions, that an object model, in general and in the context of the ’502 patent, includes a “set of classes.” J.A. (SAP) 6333–34. While DataTern’s expert submitted a claim construction declaration, he never proposed a construction for “object model” or otherwise challenged the definitions set forth by SAP’s expert and the ’502 patent inventor. J.A. (SAP) 1048–59. DataTern’s predecessor, FireStar, also previously argued that object model of the ’502 patent should be construed to require “a set of classes.” 6 J.A. (SAP) 4529. The specification confirms that the inventors of the ’502 patent did not deviate from the plain and ordinary meaning of object model, which includes classes. The only depicted object model, shown in Figure 3 (reproduced below) includes classes “CPerson,” “CProject,” “CEmployee,” and “CDepartment.” 6 We agree with DataTern that it is not bound by the previous claim construction positions of the prior ’502 patent owner that were never litigated to final judgment. Nonetheless, this position is consistent with all of the other evidence on record that supports the requirement of classes in the construction of object model. MICROSOFT CORPORATION v. DATATERN, INC. 17 ’502 patent Fig. 3. The ’502 patent unambiguously identifies these components as classes: “[f]or example, assume that a class, CPerson, has four attributes: Id, Name, Zip, and Photo . . . .” ’502 patent col. 7 ll. 22–23 (emphasis added). Further confirming that the inventors of the ’502 patent did not deviate from the plain and ordinary meaning, the ’502 patent makes clear that the object model must include classes in order to practice the claimed invention. For example, each asserted claim requires mapping an object model to relational database schema. The process described in the ’502 patent for mapping the object model to the relational database schema makes clear that the object model must include “classes” in order to be mapped. ’502 patent col. 2 l. 66 – col. 4 l. 15. Although the patent and all of the record evidence supports the construction of “object model” to require a set of classes, DataTern argues that we ought to reject that plain and ordinary meaning because of a stipulation it entered regarding the meaning of the term classes. The parties stipulated that classes include both attributes and behaviors. DataTern argues that the sole embodiment of 18 MICROSOFT CORPORATION v. DATATERN, INC. an object model in the patent only uses attributes, not behaviors. See ’502 patent Fig. 3. Therefore, DataTern argues that “object model” should not be construed to require classes. We disagree. As discussed, the plain and ordinary meaning of object model requires a set of classes. The only embodiment in the patent discloses an object model with classes and attributes of those classes. While DataTern agreed to, and is bound by virtue of its stipulation to, a narrower construction of classes than that required by the ’502 patent, that does not change the correct construction of object model. The tail can’t wag the dog. Because DataTern stipulated that SAP does not in- fringe based on the district court’s determination that an object model must include classes, we affirm summary judgment of SAP’s noninfringement of the ’502 patent. C. Summary Judgment of Noninfringement to Microsoft DataTern also conceded that Microsoft does not infringe the asserted ’502 patent claims if “object model” must include classes. On appeal, however, Microsoft does not make any of its own claim construction arguments regarding the ’502 patent. It instead purports to incorporate by reference SAP’s claim construction arguments. Microsoft Br. 19. DataTern asserts that this is improper and that Microsoft has waived its claim construction challenges. Because the Microsoft and SAP appeals are not con- solidated, this case does not fall under Fed. R. App. P. 28(i), which authorizes incorporation of co-party briefing only in the case of consolidated appeals. We also note that incorporating SAP’s arguments, as Microsoft attempts to do, would allow the Microsoft brief to exceed our court’s allowable word count by 3,025 words. It would be fundamentally unfair to allow a party to use incorporation to exceed word count. We hold that incorporation of coMICROSOFT CORPORATION v. DATATERN, INC. 19 party briefing is only allowed in consolidated cases as explained in Fed. R. App. P. 28(i) and that such incorporation cannot be used to exceed word count. The incorporated material counts against the litigants’ word count in exactly the same manner as if it had been expressly included in the brief. In this case, however, because we are affirming the district court’s determination that an “object model” must include “classes,” and because DataTern conceded Microsoft’s noninfringement based on the requirement of “classes,” we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement of the ’502 patent to Microsoft.