Opinion ID: 2744538
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Offer for Sale

Text: We next consider whether Pulse offered to sell within the United States those products that Pulse manufactured, shipped, and delivered abroad. An “offer to sell” generally occurs when one “communicate[s] a manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain, so made as to justify another person in understanding that his assent to that bargain is invited and will conclude it.” MEMC, 420 F.3d at 1376 (internal quotation marks omitted). We have held that “a description of the allegedly infringing merchandise and the price at which it can be purchased” may constitute an offer to sell. 3D Sys., Inc. v. Aarotech Labs., Inc., 160 F.3d 1373, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 1998). 3D Systems did not, however, involve international transactions and in that case this court considered the issue of offer to sell in a personal jurisdiction context. More importantly, we have held that “the location of the contemplated sale controls whether there is an offer to sell within the United States.” Transocean, 617 F.3d at 1309 (emphasis added). “In order for an offer to sell to constitute infringement, the offer must be to sell a pa- 16 HALO ELECTRONICS, INC. v. PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. tented invention within the United States.” Id. In Transocean, contract negotiations occurred outside the United States for delivery and performance in the United States. This court held that the location of the contemplated sale controlled and that the offer to sell infringed the patent at issue. The case now before us involves the opposite situation, where the negotiations occurred in the United States, but the contemplated sale occurred outside the United States. We adopt the reasoning of Transocean and conclude here that Pulse did not directly infringe the Halo patents under the “offer to sell” provision by offering to sell in the United States the products at issue, because the locations of the contemplated sales were outside the United States. Cisco outsourced all of its manufacturing activities to foreign countries, and it is undisputed that the locations of the contemplated sales were outside the United States. Likewise, with respect to other Pulse customers, there is no evidence that the products at issue were contemplated to be sold within the United States. An offer to sell, in order to be an infringement, must be an offer contemplating sale in the United States. Otherwise, the presumption against extraterritoriality would be breached. If a sale outside the United States is not an infringement of a U.S. patent, an offer to sell, even if made in the United States, when the sale would occur outside the United States, similarly would not be an infringement of a U.S. patent. We therefore hold that Pulse did not offer to sell the products at issue within the United States for purposes of § 271(a). For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the summary judgment of no direct infringement with respect to those products that Pulse manufactured, shipped, and delivered abroad. HALO ELECTRONICS, INC. v. PULSE ELECTRONICS, INC. 17