On Demand Machine v. Ingram Industries
| Decision Date | 31 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-1100.,No. 05-1075.,No. 05-1074.,05-1074.,05-1075.,05-1100. |
| Citation | 442 F.3d 1331 |
| Parties | ON DEMAND MACHINE CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Cross Appellant, v. INGRAM INDUSTRIES, INC. and Lightning Source, Inc., Defendants-Appellants, and Amazon.com, Inc., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
William Bush Cunningham, Jr., Polster, Lieder, Woodruff & Lucchesi, L.C., of St. Louis, Missouri, argued for plaintiff-cross appellant. With him on the brief was McPherson D. Moore. Of counsel on the brief was David B. B. Helfrey, Helfrey, Simon & Jones, P.C., of Clayton, Missouri.
William K. West, Jr., Howrey Simon Arnold & White, LLP, of Washington, DC, argued for defendants-appellants. With him on the brief were David W. Long, Pamela S. Kane and Jim W. Ko. Of counsel on the brief were Keith A. Rabenberg and Jennifer E. Hoekel, Senniger Powers, of St. Louis, Missouri.
Before NEWMAN, MAYER, and BRYSON, Circuit Judges.
Ingram Industries, Inc., Lightning Source, Inc., and Amazon.com, Inc. (collectively the defendants) appeal the judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri,1 holding them liable for infringement of United States Patent No. 5,465,213 (the Ross patent) owned by On Demand Machine Corporation (ODMC). We conclude that the jury verdict of infringement was based on a partly incorrect claim construction, and that on the correct construction a reasonable jury could not find the patent to be infringed. Accordingly, the judgment of infringement is reversed and the damages award vacated. The grant of a royalty-bearing license during appeal is vacated, and the issues raised by cross-appeal are moot.
The Ross patent is for a "System and Method of Manufacturing a Single Book Copy," wherein a single copy of a book is printed and bound, generally at the site of sale, upon provision to the customer of computerized information about the book. According to the Ross patent, a retail seller of books provides a computer console for customer use, wherein the computer stores promotional and other information such as book reviews and price, and also stores the complete text of the book and the design of its cover. The customer can browse through the stored information, inspect the text, and select a book for purchase; the book is then printed and bound, preferably at the same site. The patent's Summary of the Invention describes the system as follows:
A customer module (e.g. a customer kiosk) permits the consumer to access the promotional sales information on a display screen which may include general information such as a list of best sellers or specific information (e.g. a sample chapter) about individual books in which the consumer may have some interest. Such promotional sales information may include a graphical simulation of the book, descriptive information provided by the publisher, as well as a synopsis and critique of the book by a book reviewer presented in full motion video and stereo sound. The consumer may browse though the introduction, abstracts or selected pages of the book on the computer module screen.
...
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a book manufacturing system which is capable of storing data corresponding to the text and color graphical cover of tens of thousands of different books, as well as promotional sales text and color graphics for aiding the consumer in choosing a book for purchase, and facilitate the high speed manufacture of a single copy of a selected book on the immediate premises while the customer waits for a very short time.
Col. 1, line 63—col. 2, line 8; col. 3, lines 7-14. The patent explains the advantages of providing promotional information to the customer, along with immediate production and delivery of the selected book. Patent Figure 2 shows a sales kiosk with the customer at the computer, and adjacent printing/binding equipment:
NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE
Defendant Lightning Source is a book printing company with a factory in LaVergne, Tennessee, and defendant Ingram Industries is the corporate parent of Lightning Source. Lightning Source prints and sells books as ordered by publishers, wholesalers, and retailers such as Amazon.com, but does not sell directly to the public. Purchasers may order books from Lightning Source through its website or by electronic data interchange (EDI), identifying the book by its title and author or ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Lightning Source usually prints books in batches, often as large as several hundred books, but may also print single copies if ordered. Lightning Source testified that the turn-around time from order until delivery ranges from one to fifteen days. Defendant Amazon.com is a seller of books and other products to the public on the internet: its internet website provides promotional and sales information on individual books, and receives orders from customers. Amazon.com does not print books, but may order single or multiple copies from Lightning Source to fill orders from the public.
While the Ross patent application was pending, Mr. Ross offered to license his invention to Ingram Industries, a commercial printer. They entered into a one-year confidentiality agreement beginning in February 1995, and Mr. Ross disclosed his patent application and business plans to Ingram. The Ross patent issued on November 7, 1995. Ingram sought the advice of counsel, who advised that Ingram could practice on-demand printing in a non-infringing manner. In September 1996 Ingram informed Mr. Ross that Ingram was not interested in obtaining a license. Ingram then created a subsidiary company, Lightning Source, to print books to order for resellers but not for the general public.
In 1997 ODMC requested reexamination of the Ross patent, citing several additional references. Claims 7 and 8 were duly confirmed by the Patent and Trademark Office, and are as follows (with bracketed numbers as added by the district court):
7. A method of high speed manufacture of a single copy of a book comprising the steps of:
[9] printing the text of said selected books on paper pages, and
[10] binding said paper pages together to form said selected one of said books.
Claim 8 is similar, but varies in the clauses relating to the book cover:
8. A method of high speed manufacture of a single copy of a book comprising the steps of:
[10] commanding a computer to reproduce said graphical information on a book cover, and
[11] binding said paper pages together with said cover therearound.
After the reexamination Mr. Ross informed Ingram that Lightning Source was infringing the Ross patent and again offered a license. Ingram and Lightning Source again sought the opinion of counsel, who advised that "the printing of books in accordance with the flow diagram of Exhibit A by Ingram, would not constitute infringement of the claims of the Ross patent." (Opinion Letter of Sept. 20, 1996). Counsel also advised that infringement would not be found if the claims were limited to the embodiment shown in the specification, but cautioned that if a trier of fact were to look at the claim language in isolation from the specification and the embodiment described therein, infringement might be found, although such broad claims would be of questionable validity in view of the prior art. Opinion letter of November 19, 1998 ("To be at risk, the claims would have to be interpreted very broadly and a broad interpretation of the claims could well invalidate them.") Lightning Source sought the opinion of other counsel, who were of similar view. Ingram and Lightning Source then declined the proffered license.
ODMC filed suit against Ingram Industries, Lightning Source, and Amazon.com, alleging infringement of claims 7 and 8 and that the infringement was willful. The district court held a Markman hearing and construed various claim terms, and instructed the jury accordingly. The jury returned a verdict of infringement, and awarded $15,000,000 in compensatory damages. The jury also found the infringement to be willful, but the court denied ODMC's request for enhanced damages and attorney fees, explaining that this was "an extremely close case." On this appeal the defendants challenge the district court's construction of several claim terms, dispute various jury instructions, and argue that a reasonable jury could not have found infringement on the correct claim construction. They also state that the damages award was excessive or speculative.
The district court rejected ODMC's request for an immediate injunction, and authorized continuing operation by the defendants through the...
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