Opinion ID: 808959
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Electricians Bag II

Text: The district court granted summary judgment of no infringement as to Electricians Bag II; this is the modified design to which Union Rich switched after controversy arose concerning Electricians Bag I. The Electricians Bag II has “reinforced boards placed in between the fabric of the front and back panels.” Infringement op., at  n.2. These reinforced boards are made of plywood. The district court construed “flexible fabric . . . panel” to mean “[a] panel made of a fabric that is capable of being bent or flexed.” Id. at  (quoting Claim Construction op., at ), and held that the rigid plywood boards, although covered by fabric, precluded infringement by the Electricians Bag II. Travel Caddy argues that the district court’s construction of “flexible fabric front panel” is erroneous, for the front and back panels are made of fabric, and the use of “comprising” in the claim does not exclude the addition of plywood to the fabric panels. We do not discern such error, for we agree with the district court that “flexible fabric front panel” is not reasonably construed to include a plywood-stiffened fabric panel. Although “[i]t is fundamental that one cannot avoid infringement merely by adding elements if each element recited in the claims is found in the accused device,” A.B. Dick Co. v. Burroughs Corporation, 713 F.2d 700, 703 (Fed. Cir. 1983), here the addition of plywood to the fabric panels removed the flexibility of the fabric. The usage “comprising” means that additional components may be present in the device, but does not change the elements that are stated in the claim. Power Mosfet Techs., L.L.C. v. Siemens AG, 378 F.3d 1396, 1409 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The plywood is not simply an additional element, but a material change in the fabric panel. We agree that the plywood board is “an additional element [that] changed the structure 35 OUTSIDE THE BOX v. TRAVEL CADDY of the purported infringing object such that it could not infringe.” Outside the Box, 260 F. App’x at 321. The summary judgment of noninfringement as to Electricians Bag II is affirmed.