Opinion ID: 218033
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Volume”

Text: Regarding the ’089 patent, MemsTech appeals the Commission’s determination that “volume” in claim 1 of the ’089 patent means “a space defined by the transducer and one of the first member or the second member.” J.A. 86. Relying on C.R. Bard, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 388 F.3d 858 (Fed. Cir. 2004), MemsTech argues that the Commission’s claim construction of the term “volume” is erroneous, because the abstract and summary sections of the specification require that the “volume” is formed from a recess or hole in the substrate over which the transducer is mounted. MemsTech further contends that the Commission’s reliance on the doctrine of claim differentiation in its construction of the term “volume” was misMEMS TECH v. ITC 12 placed, because the language in dependent claim 3, which adds a limitation that the volume includes a recess formed in the surface, is narrower than the “volume” of independent claim 1, which encompasses a recess, hole, or cavity in the substrate. MemsTech asserts that the proper construction of “volume” is “a space that resides at least partly within (for example in a recess or hole in) the substrate (second member) or the cover (first member) and is at least partly bounded by the transducer.” Nonconfidential Br. Appellant MEMS Technology Berhad 24, 2010 WL 1807466 (Mar. 25, 2010) (hereinafter, “Appellant’s Br.”). In response, the Commission and Knowles argue that the Commission correctly construed the term “volume.” They assert that MemsTech’s proposed construction would add a limitation not present in claim 1 and would exclude certain embodiments described in the specification. They contend that C.R. Bard does not compel MemsTech’s proposed claim construction because, unlike in C.R. Bard, the embodiments disclosed in the ’089 patent do not universally contain the additional limitation proposed by MemsTech. The Commission and Knowles also point out that the doctrine of claim differentiation supports the Commission’s construction, because dependent claims 3 and 4 further limit claim 1 by specifying particular methods of forming the volume. We agree with the Commission and Knowles that the Commission correctly construed the term “volume.” As the Commission noted, the specification discloses some embodiments in which the “volume” is not formed from a recess or hole in the substrate. For example, in describing Figure 23, the specification states that “[t]he transducer back volume 18 is formed by the back hole (mounted down) of the silicon microphone only.” ’089 patent col.6 ll.59-60. Further, Figure 28 shows a transducer 58 13 MEMS TECH v. ITC mounted on a substrate 46 using epoxy 86 and a retaining ring 84; the transducer is shaped such that it creates a volume between it and the substrate to which it is attached, notwithstanding that substrate does not contain any recess or hole. Id. col.7 ll.29-51, Fig. 28. In other words, in both of these embodiments, a volume is created by the shape of the transducer, not by any recess or hole in the substrate. We have cautioned that “a construction that excludes a preferred embodiment ‘is rarely, if ever, correct.’” C.R. Bard, 388 F.3d at 865 (quoting Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1583). MemsTech does not dispute that its proposed construction would exclude particular embodiments from the specification, nor does it offer any justification for this exclusion. The Commission’s construction of the term “volume” comports with both the claim language and the breadth of the specification, neither of which supports the additional limitations that MemsTech urges. The Commission’s construction of “volume” is further supported by the doctrine of claim differentiation. See Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1315. Claim 3, which depends from claim 1, adds the limitation “the volume includine [sic] a recess formed in the surface.” Claim 4, which also depends from claim 1, adds the limitation “the volume including a hole through one of the first member or the second member containing the surface.” Under MemsTech’s proposed claim construction, which would effectively limit the “volume” of claim 1 to embodiments including a recess or hole in the substrate, dependent claims 3 and 4 are essentially redundant. Such a construction is disfavored, Liebel-Flarsheim, 358 F.3d at 910, particularly where, as here, the construction would without justification exclude embodiments in the specification. We therefore decline to adopt MemsTech’s proposed claim construction of the term “volume.” MEMS TECH v. ITC 14 MemsTech misreads C.R. Bard in arguing that claim 1 must be limited to a scope commensurate with the abstract or summary sections of the specification. In that case, we addressed the question whether the claimed “plug” should be construed as having a “pleated surface.” In answering in the affirmative, we noted that both the abstract and summary sections of the specification described the plug as having a pleated surface. C.R. Bard, 388 F.3d at 860-61. MemsTech seizes on that aspect of the case and argues that the abstract and summary sections of the ’089 patent are dispositive as to the meaning of “volume.” Yet MemsTech overlooks the fact that, in C.R. Bard, we noted that “statements [in the specification] describing preferred embodiments of the surface of the plug universally describe a ‘pleated conical plug.’” Id. at 866 (emphasis added). Here, in contrast, the general language in the abstract and summary sections does not represent the full scope of the embodiments in the specification.