Metabolite Lab., Inc. v. Laboratory Corp.

• Citation: 370 F.3d 1354
• Decision Date: 08 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1120.,03-1120.
• Parties: METABOLITE LABORATORIES, INC. and Competitive Technologies, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS (doing business as LabCorp), Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

370 F.3d 1354

METABOLITE LABORATORIES, INC. and Competitive Technologies, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS (doing business as LabCorp), Defendant-Appellant.

No. 03-1120.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

DECIDED: June 8, 2004.

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Glenn K. Beaton, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, of Denver, CO, argued for plaintiffs-appellees. With him on the brief were J. Gregory Whitehair and Amanda J Tessar. Also on the brief was Mark A. Perry, of Washington, DC.

Jonathan S. Franklin, Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellant. With him on the brief was Catherine E. Stetson. Of counsel on the brief was John P. Higgins, Alston & Bird, LLP, of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Before RADER, Circuit Judge, FRIEDMAN, Senior Circuit Judge, and SCHALL, Circuit Judge.

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge RADER, dissenting-in-part and concurring-in-part opinion filed by Circuit Judge SCHALL.

RADER, Circuit Judge.

In the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, a jury found that Laboratory Corporation (LabCorp) indirectly infringed Metabolite Laboratories, Inc.'s (Metabolite's) U.S. Patent No. 4,940,658 (the '658 patent). The jury also found that LabCorp partially breached its contract with Metabolite. Based on this verdict, the district court assessed damages of $3,652,724.61 for breach of contract and $1,019,365.01 for indirect infringement. Metabolite Labs., Inc. v. Lab. Corp., No. 99-Z-870 (D.Colo. Dec. 3, 2001). After denying LabCorp's motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), the district court doubled the infringement award for willful infringement and issued a permanent injunction. Metabolite Labs., Inc. v. Lab. Corp., No. 99-Z-870 (D.Colo. Nov. 19, 2001). Because the record supports the jury's verdicts and the trial court's decisions, this court affirms.

I.

The '658 patent claims methods for detecting cobalamin or folate deficiency. Cobalamin and folate are both B vitamins, commonly known as B₁₂ and folic acid, respectively. A deficiency in these vitamins can cause serious illnesses in humans, including vascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, birth defects and cancer. If detected early enough, however, vitamin supplements readily treat the deficiency.

Because these B vitamins assist in metabolizing the amino acid homocysteine, scientists directly assayed homocysteine to screen for cobalamin and folate deficiency. These direct homocysteine assays were unreliable. Then researchers at University Patents Inc. (UPI) discovered a relationship between elevated levels of total homocysteine and a deficiency in either cobalamin or folate. The total homocysteine test, however, could not alone identify which vitamin was deficient. Total homocysteine includes free and protein-complexed homocysteine and also includes homocysteine derivatives homocystine and homocysteine-cysteine.

Originally, doctors could not conveniently treat both deficiencies because while folate was available in tablet form, cobalamin could only be administered by injection. After cobalamin became available in tablet form, however, doctors could simply order a total homocysteine test and, without identifying the deficient vitamin, treat elevated levels of total homocysteine with a tablet containing both cobalamin and folate. The UPI inventors also developed a test to identify the deficient vitamin using methylmalonic acid (the panel test method). The '658 patent claims both the total homocysteine test and the total homocysteine-methylmalonic acid test.

Claim 13 claims the total homocysteine test:

13. A method for detecting a deficiency of cobalamin or folate in warm-blooded animals comprising the steps of:

assaying a body fluid for an elevated level of total homocysteine; and correlating an elevated level of total homocysteine in said body fluid with a deficiency of cobalamin or folate.

'658 patent, col. 11, ll. 58-65.

UPI's successor, Competitive Technologies Inc., licensed the patent to Metabolite, which in turn sublicensed the patent to Roche Biomedical Laboratories (now LabCorp). LabCorp, a laboratory testing company, originally performed total homocysteine assays under the sublicense. But in 1998, LabCorp switched to a total homocysteine assay developed by Abbott Laboratories (Abbott test) and discontinued royalty payments to Metabolite for total homocysteine assays.

In response, Metabolite sued LabCorp for infringement. The district court construed the disputed claim terms, and the case proceeded to a jury. The jury found that LabCorp breached its license agreement with Metabolite, that LabCorp willfully infringed the '658 patent, and that the claims at issue are not invalid. The jury assessed damages against LabCorp of $3,652,724.61 for breach of contract and $1,019,365.01 for infringement. The district court entered judgment against LabCorp and awarded damages as assessed by the jury.

After the trial, the district court denied LabCorp's motion for JMOL on infringement, breach of contract, invalidity, and willful infringement. In light of the finding of willfulness, the district court doubled the jury's infringement award to $2,038,730.02. The district court also permanently enjoined LabCorp from using the homocysteine-only test. LabCorp appeals the district court's claim construction as well as the denial of JMOL.

II.

Claim construction is a matter of law that this court reviews without deference. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1454 (Fed.Cir.1998) (en banc). The jury's finding of infringement, however, raises questions of fact, which this court reviews for substantial evidence. Embrex, Inc. v. Serv. Eng'g Corp., 216 F.3d 1343, 1348-49 (Fed.Cir.2000).

This court reviews a denial of JMOL without deference by reapplying the JMOL standard. Thus, this court will affirm a denial of JMOL unless substantial evidence does not support the jury's factual findings or the verdict rests on legal errors. Waner v. Ford Motor Co., 331 F.3d 851, 855 (Fed.Cir.2003).

Whether a specification complies with the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 1, is a question of fact that this court reviews for substantial evidence. Union Oil v. Atl. Richfield Co., 208 F.3d 989, 996 (Fed.Cir.2000). Enablement is a matter of law that this court reviews without deference; however, this court reviews the factual underpinnings of enablement for substantial evidence. BJ Servs. Co. v. Halliburton Energy Servs., Inc., 338 F.3d 1368, 1371-72 (Fed.Cir.2003). Similarly, this court reviews the legal determination of obviousness without deference, but reviews its factual underpinnings for substantial evidence. Teleflex, Inc. v. Ficosa N. Am. Corp., 299 F.3d 1313, 1323 (Fed.Cir.2002). This court reviews a legal finding of indefiniteness without deference. BJ Servs., 338 F.3d at 1371-72. Whether a prior art reference anticipates a patent is a factual determination that this court reviews for substantial evidence. Teleflex, 299 F.3d at 1323.

Whether infringement was willful is a question of fact that this court reviews for substantial evidence. Crystal Semiconductor Corp. v. TriTech Microelecs. Int'l, Inc., 246 F.3d 1336, 1346 (Fed.Cir. 2001). This court reviews an award of enhanced damages and grant of a permanent injunction for abuse of discretion. Odetics, Inc. v. Storage Tech. Corp., 185 F.3d 1259, 1272 (Fed.Cir.1999).

III. Infringement

The primary challenge to the jury's indirect infringement verdict requires this court to review the district court's construction of the claim term "correlating." The infringement inquiry is a two-step process. This court construes the disputed claim terms and then compares the properly construed claims to the accused device. Cybor Corp., 138 F.3d at 1454. Thus, this court first reviews the district court's claim construction.

As always, the claim language itself governs its meaning. Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed.Cir.1996). This court construes the meaning of claim language according to its usage and context. ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc., 346 F.3d 1374, 1378 (Fed.Cir.2003). The touchstone for discerning the usage of claim language is the understanding of those terms among artisans of ordinary skill in the relevant art at the time of invention. See Rexnord Corp. v. Laitram Corp., 274 F.3d 1336, 1342 (Fed.Cir.2001). Indeed, normal rules of usage create a "heavy presumption" that claim terms carry their accustomed meaning in the relevant community at the relevant time. CCS Fitness, Inc. v. Brunswick Corp., 288 F.3d 1359, 1366 (Fed.Cir.2002) (citing Johnson Worldwide Assocs., Inc. v. Zebco Corp., 175 F.3d 985, 989 (Fed.Cir.1999)). Thus, this court sets the meaning of claim terms by ascertaining their technological and temporal context.

In most cases, the best source for discerning the proper context of claim terms is the patent specification wherein the patent applicant describes the invention. In addition to providing contemporaneous technological context for defining claim terms, the patent applicant may also define a claim term in the specification "in a manner inconsistent with its ordinary meaning." Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. v. Schering-Plough Corp., 320 F.3d 1339, 1347 (Fed.Cir.2003) (citing Teleflex, 299 F.3d at 1325-26). In other words, a patent applicant may define a term differently from its general usage in the relevant community, and thus expand or limit the scope of the term in the context of the patent claims. Id. Therefore, the primary aids to supply the context for interpretation of disputed claim terms are in the intrinsic record. Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582 (Fed.Cir.1996).

Another tool to supply proper context for claim construction is the prosecution history. As in the case of the specification, the patent applicant's consistent usage of a term in prosecuting the patent may...