Martin v. Barber
| Decision Date | 04 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-710,84-710 |
| Citation | 755 F.2d 1564,225 USPQ 233 |
| Parties | Robert M. MARTIN, Gravity Guidance, Inc., Appellants, v. S. Morgan BARBER, The Other Side, Inc. and Backswing Corp., Appellees. Appeal |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
Bruce McKee and Mark Hansing, Zarley, McKee, Thomte, Voorhees & Sease, Des Moines, Iowa, argued for appellants. With them on brief was Edmund J. Sease, Des Moines, Iowa.
Thomas M. Ferrill, Jr., Ferrill & Logan, Fort Washington, Pa., argued for appellees. With him on brief was John W. Logan, Jr., Fort Washington, D.C.
Before BALDWIN, SMITH and NEWMAN, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment entered by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada holding U.S. Patent No. 3,380,447 ('447 patent), issued to Robert M. Martin on April 30, 1968 (filed Oct. 19, 1965), not infringed by the ankle-holding portion of a therapeutic tilt table called the Backswing. We vacate the summary judgment of noninfringement and remand.
Dr. Robert M. Martin filed suit against S. Morgan Barber in 1981. Later, the complaint was amended to allege six causes of action, the first alleging infringement of the '447 patent. Gravity Guidance, Inc. was added as a plaintiff with Martin (collectively "Martin"), and The Other Side, Inc. and Backswing Corp. were added as defendants with Barber (collectively "Barber"). Defendants moved for summary judgment on all six causes of action and the district court ruled on each. On appeal, Martin challenges the propriety of summary judgment only as to the infringement cause of action.
The '447 patent is directed to an ankle-holding device (also called a gravity inversion boot) for supporting an individual in an inverted position for inversion therapy. See Appendix. Claim 1, the only independent claim, is representative:
and a hook means secured to one of said first and second jaw members.
Defendant, S. Morgan Barber, learned of Martin's method of treatment using gravity inversion boots as a result of Martin's successful treatment of the back troubles of Barber's wife. Barber subsequently produced the Backswing tilt table for which he received U.S. Patent No. 4,232,662 in 1980.
The Backswing device is capable of suspending the user in an inverted position. See Appendix. The user's ankles are secured to a boom which extends from a pivotally adjustable tilt table. It is the ankle-holding portion of the device that is accused of infringing the Martin patent. The user rests his ankles on top of cyclindrical heel holders which are attached to opposite sides of the boom. Then an attachable bar (the "instep lock"), which contains two cupped members, is fastened to the boom so that the cupped members cover the front of the user's ankles and thus secure the ankles to the boom structure. The user may achieve an inverted position by pivoting the tilt table so that the bed portion (on which the user's back rests) points toward the floor while the boom extends upward.
In entering summary judgment of non-infringement, the district court saw no dispute in the record over the construction of the '447 patent claims. The court found that the cupped members of the Backswing device are not connected by a hinge and that the user is not suspended by means of a hook. The court also found no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
Whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment.
OPINIONIn reviewing a grant of summary judgment, we must determine whether there existed any genuine issue of material fact. See, e.g., Cooper v. Ford Motor Co., 748 F.2d 677, 679, 223 USPQ 1286, 1287-88 (Fed.Cir.1984); Molinaro v. Fannon/Courier Corp., 745 F.2d 651, 653-54, 223 USPQ 706, 707 (Fed.Cir.1984); Chore-Time Equipment, Inc. v. Cumberland Corp., 713 F.2d 774, 778-79, 218 USPQ 673, 675 (Fed.Cir.1983). The movant bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of all genuine issues of material fact while the court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmovant. Cooper v. Ford Motor Co., 748 F.2d at 679, 223 USPQ at 1288.
Martin argues that material issues of fact exist as to literal infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
To show that literal infringement raises issues of material fact, Martin argues that infringement itself is a question of fact, that there is a dispute as to the definition of terms in the claims and specification, and that applying the claims to the accused ankle-holding portion of the Backswing raises issues of fact.
This court in Molinaro held that when no issue of material fact is raised, infringement may be resolved on summary judgment. Infringement raises the legal issue of claim construction and the factual issue of whether the accused device infringes properly interpreted claims. See, e.g., Fromson v. Advance Offset Plate, Inc., 720 F.2d 1565, 219 USPQ 1137 (Fed Cir.1983); Raytheon Co. v. Roper Corp., 724 F.2d 951, 961, 220 USPQ 592, 600 (Fed.Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 127, 83 L.Ed.2d 69 (1984).
A dispute as to the legal issue of claim construction does not preclude summary judgment. Molinaro v. Fannon/Courier Corp., 745 F.2d at 654, 223 USPQ at 707. Martin does not point out where the district court erred in its claim construction nor does he point out how such an alleged error caused the court to erroneously resolve a material issue of fact. We see no error in the court's construction of the claims of the '447 patent. The language of independent claim 1 requires that one end of the first jaw member be hingedly secured to one end of the second jaw member. The specification shows that the hook means of claim 1 is the means for supporting the user from an elevated horizontal bar.
Where the facts underlying the issue of infringement are undisputed, the function of applying claims to the accused device is the province of the district court. Molinaro v. Fannon/Courier Corp., 745 F.2d at 654, 223 USPQ at 708. The only evidence Martin points to as raising a genuine issue are certain interrogatory answers and an affidavit from an expert witness which attempt to show how the claims read on the accused portion of the Backswing. The interrogatory answers and the affidavit merely associate particular parts of the Backswing with the elements of claim 1 of the patent. No underlying facts are raised or disputed in these documents. Thus, this evidence does not create an issue of material fact. Id. 1
Martin next argues that the district court should not have granted summary judgment of non-infringement because infringement under the doctrine of equivalents raises material issues of fact. This argument has merit.
Designed to protect a patentee from an infringer who appropriates the invention but avoids the literal language of the claims, the doctrine of equivalents allows a finding of infringement when the accused device and the claimed invention perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to yield substantially the same result. Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Products Co., 339 U.S. 605, 608, 70 S.Ct. 854, 856, 94 L.Ed. 1097 (1950); Perkin-Elmer Corp. v. Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 900, 221 USPQ 669, 679 (Fed.Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 187, 83 L.Ed.2d 120 (1984). In its opinion, the district court correctly articulated the tripartite test of "function, way, and result," but then erroneously compared the operation of a preferred embodiment disclosed in the '447 patent with the operation of the accused Backswing in finding a "substantial...
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