Opinion ID: 813303
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Construction of “Purchase Transaction”

Text: CAT argues that the district court erred by construing the term “purchase transaction” after already having construed the term “debit purchase transaction.” CAT argues that that construction “disagreed with the earlier holding of two judges in this same case.” CAT Br. 46. That is not correct. We have held that “a district court may engage in claim construction throughout litigation, 13 STORED VALUE v. CARD ACTIVATION not just in a Markman order” and that the court may “revisit[] and alter[] its interpretation of the claim terms as its understanding of the technology evolves.” Conoco, Inc. v. Energy & Envtl. Intern., L.C., 460 F.3d 1349, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2006). The original definition of debit purchase transaction did not include an explicit definition of the term purchase transaction, and the court did not err in concluding that such a definition was needed in order to rule on the summary judgment motions. The fact that that occurred after the Markman hearing did not make it incorrect. CAT next argues that the term purchase transaction should simply include “the ordinary meaning of the term ‘purchase.’” CAT Br. 48. We disagree with CAT’s argument and agree with the district court. Although the plain meaning of purchase transaction would ordinarily be a transaction where an item or service is purchased, the patent itself uses purchase transaction in every claim, not only those where goods are purchased, but also including methods adding value to debit-styled cards and methods for activating debit-styled cards. As the district court correctly noted, because the term is used in every claim, the construction of the term must be broad enough to encompass every claim. The district court was thus correct in construing “purchase transaction” as “a transaction with the intended effect of decreasing the purchasing value of, increasing the purchasing value of, or activating a debit styled card.”