Opinion ID: 2807421
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The District Court Clearly Erred in Evaluating

Text: the Scope and Content of the Prior Art “The content of prior art presents an issue of fact that this court reviews only for clear error.” Nat’l Steel Car, Ltd. v. Canadian Pac. Ry., Ltd., 357 F.3d 1319, 1335 (Fed. 1 Section 103 has since been amended. See Leahy Smith America Invents Act, Pub. L. No. 112-29, § 3(c), 125 Stat. 284, 287–88 (2011) (“AIA”). However, because the application that led to the ’110 patent was filed before March 16, 2013, the pre-AIA § 103(a) applies. See AIA, 125 Stat. at 293. 12 SEALANT SYS. INT’L, INC. v. TEK GLOBAL, S.R.L. Cir. 2004). Two prior art references, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0056851 (“Eriksen”) and Japanese Patent No. 2004-338158 (“Bridgestone”), were considered by the district court. TEK conceded “Eriksen disclose[s] all the elements within claim[s] 1, 26 and 27 of the ’110 Patent except ‘a three-way valve’ and ‘an additional hose.’” Order Re TEK’s Motions for Summary Judgment of Damages and Invalidity at 7. The district court found Bridgestone, which was not before the examiner, discloses an air tube 54 that works together with a tire, even though it is not directly connected to the tire, and that air tube 54 therefore represents the element of “an additional hose 83 cooperating with” the tire. See id. at 9. Bridgestone fig.1. SEALANT SYS. INT’L, INC. v. TEK GLOBAL, S.R.L. 13 ’110 patent fig.7. Under the proper construction of “cooperating with,” however, Bridgestone does not disclose an “additional hose cooperating with” the tire because air tube 54 is not directly connected to the tire as is additional hose 83 in the ’110 patent (see figures, above). Air tube 54 also cannot, without joint hose 66, “be used quickly and easily to inflate a flat tyre,” id. col. 5 ll. 29–31, because only joint hose 66 is connected to the tire in Bridgestone. See Bridgestone fig.1. In light of these differences, the district court clearly erred in finding Bridgestone disclosed the element of an “additional hose [] cooperating with” the tire.