Opinion ID: 175546
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “data receive-ready period”

Text: The district court held that the data receive-ready (DRR) period is “a fixed period of time during which an intermittent power-on type mobile station is in its poweron state and prepared to receive data, with the period beginning immediately after the intermittent power-on type mobile station receives the first beacon signal telling it there is data to be transmitted to it.” Markman Order, 576 F. Supp. 2d at 975. The court further held that “(1) the period must be ‘fixed’ and (2) it begins after the intermittent power-on type mobile station receives a beacon 2 We agree with Netgear that the “at the same time” portion of the construction does not require a physical impossibility. As in Paragon, the phrase “at the same time” takes into account technological constraints and necessarily means a “non-zero amount of time.” 566 F.3d at 1088. 25 FUJITSU LIMITED v. NETGEAR signal telling it there is data waiting to be transmitted.” Id. In its order granting summary judgment of noninfringement, the court discussed its construction, stating that “the access points limit transmission of data during a fixed period unless they transmit time extension information.” Second Noninfringement Order, 2009 WL 3047616, at . Fujitsu does not contest the district court’s construction in its Markman Order. However, Fujitsu argues that the district court amended its construction improperly by requiring, in its Second Noninfringement Order, that data only be transmitted during the DRR period unless time extension information is sent. It argues that the specification only requires that the DRR period be “the constant period after receiving the beacon signal” and it was erroneous to add the limitation requiring time extension information. ’642 patent col.13 ll.61-62. It argues that the construction is erroneous because the specification includes embodiments where the access point can continue to transmit data after the end of the DRR even in the absence of time extension information. For example, it argues that in one embodiment, when the mobile station does not receive expected data during the fixed period, it remains powered-on for a predetermined time beyond the DRR period without the base station sending any time extension information. Also, Fujitsu argues that the district court erred by requiring time extension information because the same claim term, DRR period, appears in other (unasserted) claims and does not require time extension information. For example, Fujitsu points to claims 3 and 7 which include a nearly identical DRR period, but do not require time extension information in order to transmit data outside the DRR period. Fujitsu finally argues that even if we agree with the district court’s amended construction, we must remand because FUJITSU LIMITED v. NETGEAR 26 Fujitsu was deprived of its opportunity to argue infringement under this construction. Netgear argues that the district court correctly construed the term in its Markman Order. It argues that the district court never amended its construction in the Second Noninfringement Order, but simply looked to the claim limitations requiring time extension information. We hold that the district court correctly construed this claim term in its Markman Order. Further, the district court did not modify this construction by requiring time extension information in order to transmit data beyond the DRR period. The plain language of the claim is clear, the DRR period is “fixed.” The claim further states said base station taking the initiative, if said data is to be transmitted continuously beyond said data receive-ready period of said intermittent power-on type mobile station, to originally report to said intermittent power-on mobile station, as time ex- tension information, that data must be received beyond said data receive-ready period. The claim expressly requires that, if the base station wishes to send data after the end of the fixed DRR period, it must send time extension information. The district court did not amend its construction, it simply looked to additional elements of the claim that Fujitsu must show to establish infringement. Fujitsu is correct that the specification includes other embodiments that do not require time extension information and other claims describe these embodiments. However, these embodiments are not the subject of the claims at issue. Fujitsu’s argument on appeal would have us read the time extension information limitation entirely out of the claims. We hold that the district court did not 27 FUJITSU LIMITED v. NETGEAR err in its construction of the term “data receive-ready period.” Further, because the district court’s reference to time extension information did not amount to an amendment to the claim construction, we hold that it did not deprive Fujitsu of its opportunity to argue infringement under the correct construction.