Opinion ID: 765972
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of summary judgment of invalidity

Text: 22 Next, we address another BluBlocker argument - that the district court erred by denying summary judgment of invalidity of the '046 patent. When a district court grants summary judgment, we review without deference to the trial court whether there are disputed material facts, and we review independently whether the prevailing party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Conroy v. Reebok Int'l, Ltd., 14 F.3d 1570, 1575, 29 USPQ2d 1373, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 1994). By contrast, when a district court denies summary judgment, we review that decision with considerable deference to the court. As Professor Moore explains: 23 The trial court has the right to exercise its discretion to deny a motion for summary judgment, even if it determines that a party is entitled to it if in the court's opinion, the case would benefit from a full hearing. The court can perform this 'negative discretionary function' and deny summary judgment if policy considerations so warrant; absent a finding of abuse, the court's discretion will not be disturbed. 24 12 James WM. Moore, Moore's Federal Practice, § 56.41[3][d] (3d ed. 1999). We will not disturb the trial court's denial of summary judgment unless we find that the court has indeed abused its discretion in so denying. 25 BluBlocker argues that the district court erred in denying summary judgment that the '046 patent is invalid because of an on-sale bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) (1994). The fact of the sale, and when it occurred, is not at issue. What is at issue is whether the '046 patent is entitled to the filling date of the parent application, a date that preceded the sale. According to BluBlocker, the '046 patent is not entitled to the 1982 filing date of its parent application because the parent application did not specify the transmission characteristics claimed in the '046 patent. 26 For a claim in a later-filed application to be entitled to the filing date of an earlier application under 35 U.S.C. § 120 (1994), the earlier application must comply with the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 1 (1994). See Tronzo v. Biomet, Inc., 156 F.3d 1154, 1158, 47 USPQ2d 1829, 1832 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (citing Lockwood v. American Airlines, Inc., 107 F.3d 1565, 1571, 41 USPQ2d 1961, 1965-66 (Fed. Cir. 1997)). The statute expresses the written description requirement as follows: 27 The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. 28 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 1. The issue of whether the written description requirement has been satisfied is a question of fact. See Tronzo, 156 F.3d at 1158, 47 USPQ2d at 1832. 29 Before the district court, SunTiger submitted affidavits from its experts that support its claim that the parent application did sufficiently describe the invention claimed in the '046 patent. In response, BluBlocker submitted evidence to rebut those affidavits and argued that although the parent application did disclose a whole host of transmission spectra as exemplified in Figure 5 (supra), it did not adequately disclose the particular spectra claimed in the '046 patent - namely, 1% transmission at 515 nm and 90% transmission at 636 nm. Given the conflicting evidence, the district court concluded that there was an old-fashioned factual dispute and there was still clearly an issue that is in genuine dispute. Joint App. at A45, Hearing Tr. Dec. 19, 1997 at 43 (before Judge Leonie M. Brinkema). Accordingly, the district court denied summary judgment on the issue of invalidity. See SunTiger, Inc. v. Scientific Research Funding Group, Docket No. 97-423-A (E.D. Va. Dec. 19, 1997) (order). 30 To disturb this decision by the trial court, we would have to find that the facts were so clear that the denial of summary judgment was an unquestioned abuse of discretion. The record, as recited above, belies any such finding. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion, we decline to disturb the district court's denial of summary judgment. 31