Opinion ID: 1042145
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Transparency

Text: Claim 15 requires a tube having “a transparency of about 80% or more.” Valois argues that the district court erred in construing the term “transparency” and that under Valois’s proposed construction MWV did not prove infringement. Valois Br. 55-56. Valois argues that “transparency” should be construed as “a measurement of the percent transmission of light having a wavelength of 500 microns passing through a 3 mm thick sample,” based on an alleged definition in the specification. Claim Op., 807 F. Supp. 2d at 542; ’132 patent col. 4 ll. 33-36. The district court rejected Valois’s argument and construed “transparency” using the Cambridge Dictionary of American English’s definition of the adjective ‘‘transparent,’’ to wit, “allowing visible light through so that objects can be clearly seen through it.” Claim Op., 807 F. Supp. 2d at 542. MWV defends the district court’s plain meaning construction and accuses Valois of attempting to limit the claims to a specific embodiment. See Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1323. We agree with MWV that the ’132 patent does not de- fine transparency, and that the district court correctly construed the term using its plain meaning. See Claim Op., 807 F. Supp. 2d at 542 (finding that the court’s construction “is the ordinary and plain meaning of the term.”). The passage of the specification cited by Valois is not a special definition. The passage refers to “one embodiment” of the dip tube, and other portions of the specification discussing transparency are not tied to Valois’s purported definition. Compare ’132 patent col. 4 l. 33 (“according to one embodiment”) with col. 2 ll. 5-17 (discussing “substantially transparent” perfume containers) and col. 5 ll. 6-25 (discussing “high transparency” tubes). MEADWESTVACO CORPORATION v. REXAM BEAUTY 15 Because the district court did not err in construing the term “transparency,” we need not address Valois’s noninfringement arguments based on its overly narrow construction.