Opinion ID: 2671312
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Corresponding Structure

Text: Because I would affirm the district court’s conclusion that the heuristics limitations are means-plus-function limitations, I would therefore reach Apple’s alternative argument regarding the corresponding structure for the term “next item heuristic.” The ’949 patent specification contains two examples of a next item heuristic: a tap on the right side of the touchscreen and a right-to-left horizontal swipe. See, e.g., ’949 patent col. 34 ll. 12-16 (“In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a tap gesture 1620 on the right side of the image. In some embodiments, the user can also initiate viewing of the next image by making a swipe gesture 1616 from right to left on the image.” (emphases added)). Nevertheless, the district court rejected the horizontal swipe as corresponding structure for the claimed next item heuristic. The district court reasoned that a horizontal finger swipe fell within the scope of another claimed heuristic— namely the “two-dimensional screen translation heuristic” in the prior claim limitation. The district court did not see how “the same user finger movement [could be] understood to communicate two separate commands.” J.A. 93. Therefore, the court limited the next item heuristic’s corresponding structure to “a heuristic that uses as one input a user’s finger tap on the right side of the device’s touch screen.” J.A. 94. Apple argues—and I agree—that the district court failed to consider that the heuristics might apply in different scenarios. For example, in describing the photo 10 APPLE INC. v. MOTOROLA, INC. album application depicted in Figure 16A of the ’949 patent, the specification explains that the user can “initiate viewing of the next image by making a swipe gesture 1616 from right to left on the image.” ’949 patent col. 34 ll. 14-16. The specification goes on to explain, however, that “if just a portion of image 1606 is displayed, in response to detecting a finger drag or swipe (e.g., 1626), the displayed portion of the image is translated in accordance with the direction of the drag or swipe gesture (e.g., vertical, horizontal, or diagonal translation).” Id. at col. 35 ll. 19-24. In other words, a horizontal swipe will be treated differently depending on whether a full image is displayed or the user has zoomed in on a portion of the image. There is nothing in the claim language that requires that the “two-dimensional screen translation heuristic” and “next item heuristic” apply in the same context. Therefore, I would reverse the district court’s decision to limit the corresponding structure to a finger tap on the right side of the screen, and would reverse the grant of summary judgment of non-infringement for the accused products that use a “swipe” gesture as a next item heuristic. II. ADMISSIBILITY OF EXPERT TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE ’949 PATENT While I concur in the judgment reversing and re- manding the district court’s exclusion of the testimony of Apple’s expert, Brian Napper, based on his erroneous claim construction, I write separately to note my agreement with the district court that Napper’s reliance on the Magic Trackpad was inherently unreliable. The majority concludes that the district court erred in excluding the testimony of Apple’s expert, Brian Napper, for two reasons. First, the district court’s analysis was based on an incorrect claim construction. Majority Op. 42-43. Specifically, the district court criticized Napper for failing to isolate the value to consumers of the “tap for APPLE INC. v. MOTOROLA, INC. 11 next item” functionality, and for failing to consider alternatives to a $35 million royalty that would enable Motorola to provide this functionality. See J.A. 112-14. These criticisms were based on the district court’s conclusion that the ’949 patent’s claimed “next item heuristic” was a means-plus-function claim that was limited to a tap on the right-hand side of the screen to turn to the next item. See J.A. 112. The majority determined that this claim construction was erroneous because the “next item heuristic” was not a means-plus-function limitation. Majority Op. 21. As explained above, I would affirm the district court’s construction of the “heuristic” claim terms as means-plus-function limitations, but would reverse the court’s ruling that the scope of the corresponding structure for the “next item heuristic” is limited to a tap on the right-hand side of the screen. Thus, although I arrive at the outcome in a different way, I concur in the majority’s conclusion that the district court’s exclusion of Napper’s testimony must be reversed and remanded on the basis of its erroneous claim construction. However, unlike the majority, I do not believe the district court abused its discretion in excluding Napper’s testimony as unreliable. The district court determined that Napper’s reliance on the Magic Trackpad to calculate the value of the claimed functionality was unreliable because that product was not a sufficiently comparable benchmark. Specifically, the court said: Napper’s proposed testimony does not provide a reliable basis for inferring the value even of the vertical scrolling feature. The fact that many consumers will pay more for a Magic Trackpad than for a mouse tells one nothing about what they will pay to avoid occasionally swiping unsuccessfully because their swiping finger wasn’t actually vertical to the screen. Maybe consumers would pay $2, but there is no evidence they would, or at least none furnished by Napper. 12 APPLE INC. v. MOTOROLA, INC. J.A. 115. It is true that our precedent supports looking to the cost of benchmark commercial products in determining the value of a defendant’s infringement. See, e.g., i4i Ltd. P’ship v. Microsoft Corp., 598 F.3d 831, 853-56 (Fed. Cir. 2010). However, as even Apple concedes, the Trackpad “contains none of the function asserted from the ’949 patent.” Motorola Response Br. 39; see also Apple Reply Br. 70 (acknowledging that “[t]hat is true”). Napper therefore began his analysis from a highly questionable starting point. And because the Trackpad does not contain any of the claimed functionality, the discounts Napper applied to get from $20 to $2 (supposedly because the Trackpad contains more features than those claimed by the ’949 patent) appear to be completely arbitrary. Accordingly, I do not believe the district court abused its discretion in concluding that Napper’s proposed testimony failed to provide a reliable basis for inferring the value of the claimed functionality. On remand, I do not think it would be reversible error for the district court to again prohibit Apple from relying on such unreliable testimony.