Opinion ID: 3066527
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Insituform II

Text: On remand, the district court again held that claim 1 of the ‘012 patent was infringed by both Process 1 and Process 2 under the doctrine of equivalents. Insituform Techs., Inc. v. Cat Contracting, Inc., CA No. H-90-1690 (S.D. Tex. Dec. 31, 1996). The court subsequently enjoined defendants from practicing those processes. In addition, the court ruled again that KS had induced infringement of the ‘012 patent. Defendants again appealed. On the second appeal to us, we reaffirmed that prosecution history estoppel did not bar plaintiffs from asserting infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. Insituform Techs., Inc. v. Cat Contracting, Inc., 166 F.3d 688, 692 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (“Insituform II”). On the infringement issue, insofar as Process 1 was concerned, we affirmed the district court’s holding that the process infringed claim 1 of the ‘012 patent under the doctrine of equivalents. Id. at 693. However, with respect to Process 2, we held that there were substantial differences between the claimed single cup process and the accused multiple needle process. Id. at 694. Accordingly, we reversed the court’s holding that Process 2 infringed. Id. Turning to the liability of KS[2] for induced infringement, we noted that “a separate corporation related to [KS] licensed the infringing technology to [Firstliner] after [KS] received notice of the ‘012 patent.” Id. at 695. That corporation was Gruppe. Because Gruppe was not a party to the case, and because “there were no findings that this affiliate was [KS]’s alter ego,” we vacated the district court’s holding and remanded for further proceedings on the inducement issue. Id.