Comaper Corp. v. Antec, Inc.
| Decision Date | 01 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 2009-1248.,No. 2009-1249.,2009-1248.,2009-1249. |
| Citation | 596 F.3d 1343 |
| Parties | COMAPER CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Cross Appellant, v. ANTEC, INC., Defendant-Appellant, and Best Buy Co., Inc. and Micro Electronics, Inc., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
Stephen J. Driscoll, Saul Ewing, LLP, of Philadelphia, PA, argued for plaintiff-cross appellant.
Robert P. Andris II, Ropers Majeski, Kohn & Bentley, of Redwood City, CA, argued for defendant-appellant. With him on the brief was Lael D. Andara.
Before RADER, GAJARSA, and DYK, Circuit Judges.
Antec, Inc. ("Antec") appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. A jury found that Antec had willfully infringed claims 1, 2, 7, 12, and 13 of U.S. Patent No. 5,955,955 ("the '955 patent"), owned by Comaper Corp. ("Comaper"), and that independent claims 1 and 12 of the patent were not invalid as obvious. However, the jury also found that dependent claims 2, 7, and 13 were obvious.
We uphold the district court's claim constructions and reject Antec's contention that a new trial is required because the district court's claim constructions were in error. However, we conclude that the district court was required to grant a new trial because the jury's verdicts on obviousness were irreconcilably inconsistent. We therefore affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for a new trial on invalidity. We also dismiss the cross-appeal.
The '955 patent claims a cooling device designed to mount within the drive bay of a computer. The device comprises a "case" containing an air movement device, such as a fan. Openings in the case allow for movement of air between the cool ambient air outside the computer and the warm air inside the computer. In particular, the device is meant to cool the drive bay region of the computer, where hard disk drives, optical drives, or tape drives may be installed. Claim 1 of the '955 patent is representative:
1. A cooling device for a computer, said computer having a drive bay region with at least one drive bay slot adapted to receive, said device comrising [sic]:
a case configured to mount within said drive bay slot of said computer such that said case occupies substantially the entire drive bay slot, said case having at least a first opening and at least a second opening, when mounted within said drive bay, said first opening being exposed to ambient air and said second opening being within said drive bay region of said computer;
at least one air movement device mounted within said case, said air movement device being configured in one of two ways, a first way in which said air movement device draws cooling air through said first opening and exhausts substantially all of said cooling air from said case though said second opening into said drive bay region, a second way in which said air movement device draws air into said case through said second opening from and drive bay region and exhausts it through said first opening; and
power supply means for supplying power to said air movement device.
'955 patent col.5 II.35-57.
On March 8, 2005, Comaper, owner of the '955 patent, brought suit against Antec for infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.1 Antec is a manufacturer of computer components and accessories. Its accused products are the HD Cooler, the Hard Disk Drive Cooler, and the Hard Disk Cooling System.
On September 19, 2006, the district court construed various disputed terms of the '955 patent. Comaper Corp. v. Antec, Inc., No. 05-CV-1103, 2006 WL 2709382 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 19, 2006) ("Claim Construction Order"). Both sides subsequently filed motions for summary judgment. Comaper moved for summary judgment of infringement; Antec moved for summary judgment of noninfringement and invalidity due to obviousness. The district court denied all of these motions, finding that the existence of genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment. Comaper Corp. v. Antec, Inc., No. 05-CV-1103, 2007 WL 2811092, at *5 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 27, 2007) ("Summary Judgment Order").
On October 10, 2007, following a five-day trial, the jury returned a "Special Verdict." It found that Antec had infringed claims 1, 2, 7, 12, and 13 of the '955 patent, and that the infringement was willful. It also found that Antec's proffered prior art devices were in public use, offered for sale, or described in publications more than one year prior to the application for the '955 patent. The jury found that the asserted claims of the '955 patent were not anticipated and that independent claims 1 and 12 were not obvious. However, the jury found that claims 2 and 7, which depend from claim 1, and claim 13, which depends from claim 12, were invalid as obvious. Comaper Corp. v. Antec, Inc., No. 05-CV-1103, 2008 WL 4140384, at *2 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 8, 2008) ("JMOL Order").
On post-trial motions, Antec argued that it was entitled to judgment in its favor on the issues of infringement and invalidity. However, the district court found that Antec had not made a motion for JMOL at the close of evidence pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 50(a), and therefore it had waived the right to make such a motion post-trial under Rule 50(b). Id. at *4-5. The district court also denied Antec's motion for a new trial. The court agreed that the verdicts on obviousness were inconsistent but reconciled the verdicts by concluding that Antec had failed to present sufficient evidence for the jury to find that claims 2, 7, and 13 of the '955 patent were obvious. Id. at *12-13. Following entry of judgment in favor of Comaper, the district court also granted Comaper's request for attorney fees based on the finding of willful infringement, but denied its request for enhanced damages.
Antec timely appealed, and Comaper cross-appeals on the issue of enhanced damages. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1).
Antec first contends that the district court erred in denying Antec's motions for summary judgment of noninfringement and invalidity due to obviousness. The district court denied Antec's motions because it determined that genuine issues of material fact existed. See Summary Judgment Order, 2007 WL 2811092, at *4-5. A denial of summary judgment is not properly reviewable on an appeal from a final judgment entered after trial. See Hopp v. City of Pittsburgh, 194 F.3d 434, 439 n. 3 (3d Cir.1999); Baughman v. Cooper-Jarrett, Inc., 530 F.2d 529, 532 (3d Cir.1976), overruled on other grounds by Croker v. Boeing Co., 662 F.2d 975 (3d Cir.1981); see also State Contracting & Eng'g Corp. v. Condotte Am., Inc., 346 F.3d 1057, 1067 (Fed.Cir.2003); Glaros v. H.H. Robertson Co., 797 F.2d 1564, 1573 (Fed.Cir.1986). Antec's challenge to the district court's denial of summary judgment is therefore improper.
Antec also argues that the district court erred when it denied Antec's motion for JMOL after the jury returned its verdict. The district court concluded that Antec had waived its right to move for JMOL after trial because it had failed to preserve that right by moving for JMOL at the close of evidence. JMOL Order, 2008 WL 4140384, at *4-5.
Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b), a party must have first moved for JMOL under Rule 50(a) at the close of all the evidence in order to preserve the right to renew that same JMOL motion after the jury returns its verdict. See Chem. Leaman Tank Lines, Inc. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 89 F.3d 976, 992 (3d Cir.1996) (); Lightning Lube, Inc. v. Witco Corp., 4 F.3d 1153, 1172 (3d Cir.1993) (). Antec contends that in arguing against Comaper's Rule 50(a) motion, Antec made its position clear to the district court, and that this met the "letter and spirit" of Rule 50(a). It is difficult to see how Antec met the letter and spirit of the rule, however, when it failed to actually take the step of moving for JMOL and argued to the district court that the prior art evidence "establishe[d] at the very least the basis for going ... to the jury"—a position inconsistent with JMOL. Def.-Appellant's Reply Br. 1. This was not a situation in which the district court suggested that a formal JMOL motion at the close of the evidence was unnecessary. See, e.g., Minn. Supply Co. v. Raymond Corp., 472 F.3d 524, 535 (8th Cir.2006); Riverview Invs., Inc. v. Ottawa Cmty. Improvement Corp., 899 F.2d 474, 477-78 (6th Cir.1990); Ebker v. Tan Jay Int'l, Ltd., 739 F.2d 812, 823-24 (2d Cir. 1984). The district court thus correctly concluded that Antec had failed to move for JMOL following the close of evidence. This failure constitutes a waiver of Antec's right to JMOL following the jury's verdict.
Antec argues in the alternative that it is entitled to a new trial. It claims first that the district court erred in construing terms of the '955 patent and in instructing the jury as to the meaning of those claim terms.
With regard to the term "case" in the '955 patent, the district court construed it to mean "a structure for containing and holding something."2 Claim Construction Order, 2006 WL 2709382, at *6. Antec argues that the district court's claim construction is too broad, and that a "case" requires at least some type of enclosure. We disagree. While the embodiment disclosed in the '955 patent includes a six-sided rectangular enclosure, this court has repeatedly cautioned against limiting claims to a preferred embodiment. See, e.g., Linear Tech. Corp. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, 566 F.3d 1049, 1058 (Fed.Cir.2009); Comark...
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