Opinion ID: 694395
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the majority's cited authority

Text: 372 The authority on which the majority relies simply does not support its statement that the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that construction of a patent claim is a matter of law exclusively for the court. Majority op. at 994. That statement is of course correct when deciding the legal effect of a patent claim, and when stating the law to be applied by the trier of fact in interpreting disputed terms. However, it is not correct with respect to findings of disputed factual issues, issues that usually relate to the meaning and scope of the technologic terms and words of technical art that define the invention. Even the majority's selected authority recognized that such issues are factual, to be found by the jury. Although the majority now equates these factual findings with construction of a patent, the Supreme Court did not. 373 In Winans v. Denmead, 56 U.S. (15 How.) 330, 14 L.Ed. 717 (1854) the invention was the conical shape of a coal-carrying railroad car, whereby the car could carry several times its weight in coal. The car described and claimed in Winans' patent had a circular cross-section; the accused car of Denmead had an octagonal cross-section. The trial court instructed the jury that since the patent described the circular shape, it was so limited. The Supreme Court held that the instruction was in error, and that the jury should have been instructed on the legal rule that the thing patented was not limited to the exact shape or form illustrated, but depended on whether the same function was performed in substantially the same way and with the same result--the rule now called the doctrine of equivalents. 374 As the majority states, the Court indeed construed the thing patented. 56 U.S. at 338. The construction was the legal rule that the claim could be infringed by an equivalent structure. Having corrected this error of law in the jury instructions, the Court did not then answer the factual question for itself, as now does the Federal Circuit. The Court remanded for retrial to the jury, on the correct instruction of law: 375 Whether, in point of fact, the defendant's cars did copy the plaintiff's invention, in the sense above explained, is a question for the jury, and the court below erred in not leaving that question to them upon the evidence in the case, which tended to prove the affirmative. 376 56 U.S. at 344. 377 In Silsby v. Foote, 55 U.S. (14 How.) 218, 14 L.Ed. 391 (1853), also relied on by the majority, the Court again did not remove factual issues from the jury. The Court construed the patent claim as a combination claim, and stated that the trial judge correctly instructed the jury on the law that all of the necessary parts of the claimed combination must be present in an infringing device. These were indeed matters of law. The Court stated that the trial judge properly left to the jury the question of which parts of the claimed device were necessary to its operation (which was to regulate the heat of a stove by automatically varying the position of the damper in response to temperature changes), as well as whether the defendants used these necessary parts. 378 The defendants had argued that the trial judge had impermissibly left a question of law to the jury. The Court pointed out that the question of which parts were necessary to regulate the heat of the stove was not a matter of law, but a question of fact to be decided by the jury: 379 The substance of the charge is, that the jury were instructed by the Judge, that the third claim in the specification was for a combination of such parts of the described mechanism as were necessary to regulate the heat of the stove; that the defendants had not infringed the patent, unless they had used all the parts embraced in the plaintiff's combination; and he left it to the jury to find what those parts were, and whether the defendants had used them. 380 We think this instruction was correct. The objection made to it is, that the court left to the jury what was matter of law. But an examination of this third claim, and of the defendants' prayers for instruction, will show that the Judge left nothing but matter of fact to the jury. The construction of the claim was undoubtedly for the court. The court rightly construed it to be a claim for a combination of such of the described parts as were combined and arranged for the purpose of producing a particular effect, viz., to regulate the heat of a stove. 381 .... 382 .... But the defendants also desired the Judge to instruct the jury that the index, the detaching process, and the pendulum, were constituent parts of this combination. How could the Judge know this as matter of law? 383 Id. 55 U.S. at 225-26. The Court affirmed that the factual question of what the claim covered was for the jury to decide, in the course of determining the question of infringement. Indeed, the Court's query was pointed: How could the Judge know this as a matter of law? Id. at 226. 384 In Coupe v. Royer, 155 U.S. 565, 15 S.Ct. 199, 39 L.Ed. 263 (1895) the Court held that there was legal error in the trial judge's description of the invention to the jury, and in the withdrawal of the question of infringement from the jury. The Court held that the trial judge had omitted a limitation contained in the claims of the patent (viz., that the orientation of the machine was vertical). It was indeed legal error to omit a claim limitation, then as now, and the Court, correcting this error, remanded for a new trial to the jury. The Court declined to give a peremptory instruction to the jury, stating that all of the differences are the subject of legitimate consideration by the jury: 385 [T]he question of infringement, arising upon a comparison of the Royer patent and the machine used by the defendants, should be submitted to the jury, with proper instructions as to the nature and scope of the plaintiffs' patent as hereinbefore defined, and as to the character of the defendants' machine. 386 155 U.S. at 579-80, 15 S.Ct. at 205. This case again illustrates the Court's role as assuring that the law is correctly stated to the jury, and the jury's role as trier of fact. Again, a case relied on by the majority does not support the majority's position. 387 In Bischoff v. Wethered, 76 U.S. (9 Wall.) 812, 19 L.Ed. 829 (1870) the Court distinguished between the construction of the patent as a legal instrument, and the factual nature of the thing invented: 388 It is not the construction of the instrument, but the character of the thing invented, which is sought in questions of identity and diversity of inventions. 389 76 U.S. at 816. The issue was identity of invention, and the Court reiterated that the meaning of disputed terms of art is a question of fact for the jury. Id. at 814. The majority includes Bischoff as authority for its removal of these findings of fact from the jury. That is a curious reading of the holding in Bischoff: 390 A case may sometimes be so clear that the court may feel no need of an expert to explain the terms of art or the descriptions contained in the respective patents, and may, therefore, feel authorized to leave the question of identity to the jury, under such general instructions as the nature of the documents seems to require. And in such plain cases the court would probably feel authorized to set aside a verdict unsatisfactory to itself, as against the weight of the evidence. But in all such cases the question would still be treated as a question of fact for the jury, and not as a question of law for the court. And under this rule of practice, counsel would not have the right to require the court, as a matter of law, to pronounce upon the identity or diversity of the several inventions described in the patents produced. 391 Id. (emphasis added). Indeed, only two years later the Court again considered the issue, and in Tucker v. Spalding, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 453, 20 L.Ed. 515 (1872) the Court held that a prior patent and related expert testimony on the issue of diversity or identity were improperly withheld from the jury, describing the issue as a mixed question of law and fact, and stating: 392 Whatever may be our personal opinions of the fitness of the jury as a tribunal to determine the diversity or identity in principle of mechanical instruments, it cannot be questioned that when the plaintiff, in the exercise of the option which the law gives him, brings his suit in the law in preference to the equity side of the court, that question must be submitted to the jury, if there is so much resemblance as raises the question at all. And though the principles by which the question must be decided may be very largely propositions of law, it still remains the essential nature of the jury trial that while the court may on this mixed question of law and fact, lay down to the jury the law which should govern them, so as to guide them to truth, and guard them against error, and may, if they disregard instructions, set aside their verdict, the ultimate response to the question must come from the jury. 393 80 U.S. at 455. 394 In Winans v. New York and Erie R. Co., 62 U.S. (21 How.) 88, 16 L.Ed. 68 (1859) infringement was conceded, and the issue at trial was originality. The Court stated that the trial judge has given the only construction which the language of this specification will admit, id., 62 U.S. at 101, in explaining to the jury that the invention was in the manner of arranging the wheels and the car body. Having explained the invention to the jury, the question of originality was held to be for the jury, not the court. 395 In discussing the appropriate use of expert witnesses, the Winans Court stated that professors or mechanics can not prove legal construction of any instrument of writing, but may testify on matters of art or science: 396 Experts may be examined to explain terms of art, and the state of the art, at any given time. They may explain to the court and jury the machines, models, or drawings, exhibited. They may point out the difference or identity of the mechanical devices involved in their construction. The maxim of unique in sua arte credendum permits them to be examined to questions of art or science peculiar to their trade or profession; but professors or mechanics cannot be received to prove to the court or jury what is the proper or legal construction of any instrument of writing. 397 62 U.S. at 100-01. On this aspect, too, the case does not stand for the removal of factual findings from the jury; indeed the Court recognized the various kinds of evidentiary facts on which technical experts routinely testify in patent cases. 398 In Heald v. Rice, 104 U.S. 737, 26 L.Ed. 910 (1882) the Court stated that when there was no dispute about the technology, no need for evidence, and no question of fact requiring resolution by a jury, the mere comparison of a reissue and original patent was a matter of law for the court. Other cases related to a directed verdict when no fact was in dispute, e.g., Singer Mfg. Co. v. Cramer, 192 U.S. 265, 24 S.Ct. 291, 48 L.Ed. 437 (1904) (the trial court should have granted a directed verdict when there was no dispute as to the meaning of any term of art and no substantial evidence of infringement); or the grant of a new trial, e.g., Market St. Cable Ry. Co. v. Rowley, 155 U.S. 621, 15 S.Ct. 224, 39 L.Ed. 284 (1895) (since the facts were not disputed and no extrinsic evidence was given or needed, the court should have instructed the jury on lack of patentable novelty; the Court remanded with directions to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial). The new trial and the directed verdict are modes of judicial management of the trial process, and quite different from the majority's decision simply to eliminate the jury. 399 Hogg v. Emerson, 47 U.S. (6 How.) 437, 12 L.Ed. 505 (1848), another case relied on by the majority, was part of a lengthy litigation. There was a jury trial, review by a circuit panel, retrial to a jury, and two appeals to the Court. In this appeal the Court considered which documents were properly considered when construing the patent, in view of the fire that destroyed the Patent Office files in 1836. In reviewing the question of whether the patent in suit covered the entire steam engine or only the improvement, the Court construed the patent as covering only the improvement. Id., 47 U.S. at 484. The Court affirmed the trial court, which the report states left the question of fact as to reasonable diligence of the patentee or not in this respect, and also all questions of fact involved in the points of the case for the defendants, to the jury. Id. at 445. 400 The majority also relies on Levy v. Gadsby, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 180, 2 L.Ed. 404 (1805), wherein the Court ruled that a certain document was a contract and not some other form of transaction, and was subject to the usury law. This was legal construction of a document, and was decided by the Court. This case says nothing about removing disputed factual questions from the jury. The majority also cites Eddy v. Prudence Bonds Corp., 165 F.2d 157, 163 (2d Cir.1947), cert. denied, 333 U.S. 845, 68 S.Ct. 664, 92 L.Ed. 1128 (1948), wherein the court, reviewing the legal operation of a court-approved Supplemental Trust Agreement in bankruptcy in view of a court order, stated that appellate courts have untrammeled power to interpret written documents. This determination of legal effect is indeed construction of a legal document. 401 I shall not dwell on the majority's reliance on other cases that were bills of equity and tried to the court, for they do not raise the issue of the jury right. See Loom Co. v. Higgins, 105 U.S. 580, 26 L.Ed. 1177 (1881) (determining if patentee was the true inventor, and whether patent claim was sufficiently described in the specification); Goodyear Dental Vulcanite Co. v. Davis, 102 U.S. 222, 26 L.Ed. 149 (1880) (limiting Goodyear's claims to dentures manufactured by vulcanization); Bates v. Coe, 98 U.S. 31, 25 L.Ed. 68 (1878) (determining which elements constituted the invention and which constituted equivalents); Merrill v. Yeomans, 94 U.S. 568, 24 L.Ed. 235 (1876) (construing patent claim in light of specification as only for process of manufacture); and Seymour v. Osborne, 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 516, 546, 20 L.Ed. 33 (1871) (discussing scientific witnesses to aid the court in coming to a correct conclusion). The majority cites Merrill v. Yeomans as applying 'well-settled rules of construing all instruments.'  The rule the Court applies at this quotation is that words and phrases are to be construed so as to give them meaning. 94 U.S. at 571. This is indeed a rule of law; the Court did not convert findings of fact into rules of law. Nor should it be necessary to point out that when cases are tried to the court, majority op. at 996-997, the resolution of disputes as to what claim terms mean is indeed for the court. 402 Exhibit Supply Co. v. Ace Patents Corp., 315 U.S. 126, 62 S.Ct. 513, 86 L.Ed. 736, 52 USPQ 275 (1942), also cited by the majority, turned on prosecution history estoppel resulting from an amendment to the claims in the Patent Office. The Court stated the rule of law that what the patentee, by a strict construction of the claim, has disclaimed ... cannot now be regained by recourse to the doctrine of equivalents, which at most operates, by liberal construction. There was no dispute as to the meaning of technical terms, and the Court applied this rule of law to the undisputed facts. This had been a bench trial, on bill of equity. Ace Patents Corp. v. Exhibit Supply Co., 119 F.2d 349, 48 USPQ 667 (7th Cir.1941). It is difficult to discern the relevance of this case to the issues in Markman. 403 Many dozens of patent cases reached the Supreme Court. Some of those relied on by the majority as support for trial to the court were bills in equity. Of those in law, most were tried to a jury. It is not possible to diminish the great weight of precedent wherein patent infringement was tried to a jury, the jury deciding disputed factual questions of what the patent covered, and applying these findings to the accused device. The court today effects a dramatic realignment of jury, judge, and the appellate process. 404