Opinion ID: 809417
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The doctrine of equivalents can apply to the

Text: “substantially all” limitation The district court recognized that the claim construction of the term “substantially all” provided specific percentages but stated that “absent more limiting language in the intrinsic record” the doctrine of equivalents can be applied to find infringement where the accused value is insubstantially different from the claimed value. Id. (quoting Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, Inc. v. Perrigo Co., 616 F.3d 1283, 1292 (Fed. Cir. 2010)); see also U.S. Philips Corp. v. Iwasaki Elec. Co., 505 F.3d 1371, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (holding that despite a claimed concentration range the doctrine of equivalents can still be applied). Par argues that the district court improperly treated the claim term “substantially all” as a precise quantity entitled to the doctrine of equivalents when it is really a “fuzzy” quantitative limitation not entitled to equivalents. Par asserts that the word “substantially” was used to capture values lower than 100%, indeed the district court construed the term to include any amount as low as 90%, and Par contends Pozen should not reach below 90% “to encompass equivalents of equivalents.” Cohesive Techs., Inc. v. Waters Corp., 543 F.3d 1351, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2008). DRL argues that the district court erred in granting Pozen a range of equivalency for the ’183 patent beyond the scope of equivalency determined through claim construction. DRL asserts that in the cases the district court cites the degree to which the accused product fell outside the specifically claimed range was miniscule in comparison to the amount their ANDA product falls outside of the claimed range. 14 Here, DRL contends, sumatriptan only 14 In Adams Respiratory the requirement was “at least 3500 units” and the accused product had 3493.38 31 POZEN INC v. PAR PHARMA makes up 85% of one layer; 5% less than the minimum 90% set forth in the construction of the term “substantially all.” Indeed, this court has stated that where “a patentee has brought what would otherwise be equivalents of a limitation into the literal scope of the claim, the doctrine of equivalents is unavailable to further broaden the scope of the claim.” Cohesive Techs., 543 F.3d at 1372. “[A]ll claim limitations are not entitled to an equal scope of equivalents. Whether the result of the All Limitations Rule, prosecution history estoppel, or the inherent narrowness of the claim language, many limitations warrant little, if any, range of equivalents.” Moore U.S.A., Inc. v. Standard Register Co., 229 F.3d 1091, 1106 (Fed. Cir. 2000) (internal citations omitted). However, although the claim language itself is a qualitative measure, the claim construction pulls directly from the specification to give the term “substantially all” a quantitative definition, specifically, “at least 90%, and preferably greater than 95%,” ’183 patent col.2 ll.62-65, and this court has previously concluded that the doctrine of equivalents is not foreclosed with respect to claimed ranges, see Adams Respiratory, 616 F.3d at 1291-92. In Kemin Foods, the court construed “substantially free from other carotenoids” to mean “significantly less than 10% of other carotenoids” based, in part, on the specification stating that “[g]enerally, the concentration of other carotenoids in the starting material should be 10% or less.” Kemin Foods, L.C. v. Pigmentos Vegetales Del Centro S.A. units, within 0.189% of the claimed minimum. Adams Respiratory, 616 F.3d at 1291. In Abbott Laboratories, the claim required between 68.8% and 94.5% by weight of a component, and the accused product had 95% of that component. Abbott Laboratories v. Dey L.P., 287 F.3d 1097, 1107 (Fed. Cir. 2002). POZEN INC v. PAR PHARMA 32 de C.V., 464 F.3d 1339, 1349 (Fed. Cir. 2006). The court determined that because Kemin did not argue that “significantly less than 10%” has a precise upper limit a reasonable person could determine that a concentration of 6.14%-9.86% does not infringe under the doctrine of equivalents. Id. Similarly, in this case, Pozen never stated that “at least 90%, and preferably greater than 95%” should be an absolute floor. Under the doctrine of equivalents a tablet layer with 85% of the agent can be fairly characterized as an insubstantial change from a tablet layer with 90% of the agent.