Court Opinion

ID: 9493514
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:10:33.963315+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:53.253824
License: Public Domain

*1117NEWMAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring-in-part and dissenting-in-part.
I concur in the judgment of non-infringement with respect to the ’798 patent, the 110 patent, and claim 1 of the ’464 patent,1 although I do not share the court’s reasoning with respect to either the ’798 or the ’464 patents. For claim 9 and related claims of the ’464 patent, I would reverse the summary judgment and remand for determination of infringement on the correct law.
The ’798 Patent
The ’798 patent is directed to a conventional Z-fold business form whose adhesive structure has been adjusted to avoid sticking to the IBM 3800 printer, which is designed for printing such forms. The ’798 patent explains that when forms bearing pressure-sealable adhesive in the “conventional” position at the edge of the form were printed with the IBM 3800 printer, the adhesive would stick to the printer rollers. The ’798 patent analyzed this problem as follows:
The IBM 3800 printer operates in such a way that it pauses at regular intervals. When the printer pauses, it has been found that an impression is created \ inch on either side of the fold perforations between forms in the continuous web. Since there is adhesive in that impression area, the forms are caused to stick to the fuser roll and/or the backup roller. This then results in the forms jumping out of time, warping the fuser rolls, etc., as described above.
The patentee solved this problem “in a simple yet effective manner,” by repositioning the adhesive to about % inch from the edge, thereby avoiding the IBM 3800 roller impression area at % inch and preventing adhesion to the roller.
Patent claim 1 is representative, with emphasis added to show the claim elements relevant to infringement by the accused SRC forms:
1. A mailer type business form processed by a printer having rollers, and operated to occasionally pause, the mailer comprising: ,
a folded paper sheet having first and second faces, first and second opposite longitudinal edges, and first and second transverse fold lines defining first, second and third sections of said sheet;
first and second longitudinal lines of weakness forming with said longitudinal edges first and second longitudinal marginal portions;
a first transverse edge and a second transverse edge, both parallel to said first and second fold lines;
longitudinal patterns of adhesive disposed in said longitudinal marginal portions for holding said marginal portions of said first through third sections together;
a first transverse pattern of adhesive disposed adjacent said first transverse edge on said first face and first section; and
said first transverse pattern of adhesive being spaced from its associated transverse edge a distance sufficient to insure that the adhesive does not interfere with rollers of a printer used to process the mailer during pausing of the printer.
The district court ruled, as a matter of claim construction, that the claims were limited to the IBM printer and the distances described for that printer. The IBM 3800 is the only printer mentioned in the patent, which is entitled “Pressure Seal Adhesive Pattern for IBM 3800 Printers.” The court relied on the frequent references to the IBM 3800 in the specification “and indeed in the title of the patent itself,” and construed “distance sufficient” in the final clause to mean “more than % *1118inch,” the only distance described in the patent.
Moore argues that the claims are not limited to the IBM printer or the placing of the adhesive, and that any forms whose adhesive does not stick to the rollers are covered by the claims, correctly construed. The panel majority agrees with Moore that the claims are not limited to the IBM 3800 printer and the adhesive distances described in the specification, and rules that the district court erred in its claim construction. I do not agree with my colleagues’ claim construction. However, their ruling raises a larger concern.
Despite their rejection of the district court’s claim construction, my colleagues then mysteriously interpret the claims in the identical way as did the district court, that is, limited to the IBM 3800 printer and the adhesive distances described in the specification. Having explicitly construed the claims as not limited to forms for use with the IBM 3800 printer, the panel majority nonetheless rules that since the SRC forms are not limited to use with the IBM 3800 printer, there can not be infringement as a matter of claim construction. Further, it is undisputed on the record that the SRC forms are fully usable with the IBM 3800 printer. Since the claims as construed by the majority read on the SRC forms, it is, simply, confusing to rule that there can not be infringement as a matter of law. Extensive precedent requires that claims be construed the same way for all purposes. I must, respectfully, dissent from this novel ruling.
The ’464 Patent
The ’464 patent is directed to a C-fold mailer-type business form having an integral return envelope. The patented invention is designed to facilitate manufacture of the mailer .as well as its use by the consumer. At issue with respect to the accused SRC mailer are the length and placement of various adhesive strips. Claims 1 and 9 are representative, with emphases added to highlight the terms relevant to the issues of infringement:
1. A mailer type business form intermediate, comprising:
[a] a sheet of paper having a first face, adapted to provide the majority of the interior of the mailer when constructed, and a second face, adapted to provide the majority of the exterior of the mailer when constructed;
[b] said sheet having first and second opposite, parallel longitudinal edges extending the entire length thereof, and opposite ends;
[c] first and second longitudinal lines of weakness formed in said sheet parallel to and adjacent, but spaced from, said first and second longitudinal edges, respectively, said lines of weakness defining, with said longitudinal edges, longitudinal marginal portions;
[d] first and second longitudinal strips of adhesive disposed in said first and second longitudinal marginal portions, respectively, of said first face, extending the majority of the lengths of said longitudinal marginal portions, and parallel to said first and second longitudinal edges;
[e] third and fourth longitudinal strips of adhesive disposed parallel to said first and second strips, and disposed adjacent said first and second lines of weakness on the opposite side thereof from said first and second strips, on said first face, said third and fourth longitudinal strips disposed closer to one end of said ends than the other, and extending a distance substantially less than the extent of said first and second strips;
[f] fifth and sixth longitudinal strips of adhesive parallel to said first and second longitudinal edges and disposed in said first and second marginal portions, respectively, on said second face, said fifth and sixth strips located adjacent the same end of said sheet as said third and fourth strips, and having a longitudinal extent at the most equal to said and fourth strips;
*1119[g] means defining a transverse adhesive strip on said ñrst face, perpendicular to said third and fourth strips, longitudinally spaced from said third and fourth strips; and
[h] means defining a line of weakness adjacent said transverse strip, on the opposite side thereof from said third and fourth strips to allow ready separation of the paper at that line.
9. A mailer type business form, with integral return envelope, comprising:
[a] a C-fold paper sheet having first and second faces, first and second opposite longitudinal edges extending the entire length thereof, and first and second transverse fold lines defining first, second and third sections of said sheet;
[b] said second and third sections being larger than said first section;
[c] first and second lines of weakness formed in said sheet parallel to and adjacent, but spaced from, said first and second longitudinal edges, respectively, said lines of weakness defining with said longitudinal edges, longitudinal marginal portions;
[d] first and second longitudinal strips of adhesive disposed in said first and second longitudinal marginal portions, respectively, of said first face, and parallel to said first and second longitudinal edges; said ñrst and second longitudinal strips connecting at least said ñrst and second sections, and said third and first sections, together at said longitudinal marginal portions;
[e] third and fourth longitudinal strips of adhesive disposed parallel to said first and second strips, and disposed adjacent said first and second lines of weakness on the opposite side thereof from said first and second strips, on said first face, said third and fourth longitudinal strips connecting said first section to a part of said second section to form the sides of a return envelope;
[f] means deñning a transverse adhesive strip on said ñrst face, perpendicular to said third and fourth strips, in said third section-,
[g] means defining a transverse line of weakness adjacent said transverse strip in said third section, on the opposite side thereof from said second section, to allow ready separation of the form at that line;
[h] outgoing address, and outgoing return address, indicia visible from said second face of said third section;
[i] return envelope address indicia printed on said second face in said first section; and
[j] indicia facilitating and suggesting the insertion of return address information on said return envelope, said facilitating and suggesting indicia printed on said second face in both said second and third sections.
Moore appeals the summary judgment of non-infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, stating, correctly, that there are material issues of disputed fact which could not be decided adversely on summary judgment.
Claim 1, Clause [d] — The Length of the First and Second Longitudinal Adhesive Strips
For claim 1, the panel majority decides that there can not be equivalency of the elements of claim clause [d]. That ruling, which negates equivalency as a matter of law as between substantially identical elements having slight numerical differences, is not in accordance with precedent.
The panel majority holds that a strip length of 47.8% can not be equivalent to a strip length of 50 + %, claimed as the “majority of the lengths” of the form. Whether 47.8% is equivalent to a majority is a question of fact, and could not be decided adversely to the patentee as a matter of law. The evidence of identity of function, way, and result, and of insubstantial difference, was not disputed on summary judgment; the question requires findings of fact, not summary disposition.
The panel majority also states that Moore dedicated to the public all embodi-*1120merits less than the majority of the length. There is no support for such statement. Neither prosecution history estoppel nor prior art was asserted as limiting equivalency to over 50% of the length. Further, Moore points out that “none of the limitations at issue were added or argued to gain allowance of the claims asserted,” citing Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co., 520 U.S. 17, 117 S.Ct. 1040, 137 L.Ed.2d 146, 41 USPQ2d 1865 (1997).
Moore raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the 47.8% length of the first and second longitudinal strips in the accused device is equivalent to the “majority of the lengths” of those strips in the patented device. Summary judgment of non-equivalency could not have been based on the evidence before the court.
In addition, claim 9, which requires only .“first and second longitudinal strips connecting at least said first and second sections, and said third and first sections, together at said longitudinal marginal portions,” does not limit the length of the first and second longitudinal strips to a “majority.” Thus summary judgment on this ground can not apply to claim 9.
Claim 1, Clause [e] — The Third and Fourth Adhesive Strips
As to the third and fourth longitudinal strips, I agree with the district court that no reasonable jury could find equivalency between 98% and “substantially less than the [47.8%] extent of the said first and second strips.” On this ground, I concur in the judgment as to claim 1.
Claim 9 — The Rearranged Claim Elements
For claim 9 and the claims grouped with claim 9, the district court ruled that there could be no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents if the accused infringer rearranged any elements from their location described in the claim. Moore argues that SRC has merely rearranged the transverse adhesive strip, which required moving the tear strip for separating the return envelope and the accompanying adhesive, and that the elements “function in exactly the same way to get exactly the same results, i.e. allowing ready detachment of the reply envelope and ready use thereof as a return envelope.”
The panel majority rules that the doctrine of equivalents can not be invoked to reach rearranged claim elements, as a matter of law. However, precedent contravenes such an automatic bar; equivalency in fact must be determined. In Warner-Jenkinson Co., 520 U.S. at 40, 117 S.Ct. 1040, 41 USPQ2d at 1875 the Court required “analysis of the role played by each element in the context of the specific patent claim.” In Sanitary Refrigerator Co. v. Winters, 280 U.S. 30, 50 S.Ct. 9, 74 L.Ed. 147 (1929), the Court recognized that infringement based on equivalency may ensue when claimed elements are reciprocally rearranged. The Federal Circuit in Corning Glass Works v. Sumitomo Electric U.S.A., Inc., 868 F.2d 1251, 9 USPQ2d 1962 (Fed.Cir.1989) recognized equivalency involving rearranged elements.
On this question of fact, summary judgment could not have been granted adversely to Moore. The case as to claim 9 should be remanded for finding of the facts of equivalency.