Emerson Elec. Co. v. Spartan Tool, LLC
| Decision Date | 03 May 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:00CV350.,1:00CV350. |
| Citation | 223 F.Supp.2d 856 |
| Parties | EMERSON ELECTRIC CO., et al., Plaintiffs, v. SPARTAN TOOL, LLC, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
Albert B. Deaver, Jr., Gregg A. Duffey, Howery, Simon, Arnold & White, Houston, TX, M. Neal Rains, Frantz Ward, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiffs.
Arthur A. Gasey, Joseph N. Hosteny, III, Vasilios D. Dossas, Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro, Chicago, IL, Deborah A. Coleman, Hahn, Loeser & Parks, Cleveland, OH, for Defendant.
This matter is before the Court upon Plaintiffs' Motion for Claim Construction of Claims 29 and 35 of the '588 Patent and of Claims 1 and 22 of the '905 Patent, and Supporting Memorandum (Doc. 93); Plaintiffs' Motion for Claim Construction and for Summary Judgment of Infringement of Claim 24 of the '401 Patent, and Supporting Memorandum (Doc. 95); Spartan's Response and Cross Motion to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment of Claim 24 of the '401 Patent (Doc. 103); Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment of Infringement of Claim 29 of the '588 Patent and of Claim 22 of the '905 Patent, and Supporting Memorandum (Doc. 94); Spartan's Response to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment of Infringement and Cross Motion as to Claim 29 of the '588 Patent and Claim 22 of the '905 Patent (Doc. 114); Spartan's Motion for Summary Judgment on Non-Infringement (Doc. 96); Spartan's Motion for Summary Judgment on Invalidity (Doc. 108); and Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment of No Unenforceability and Supporting Memorandum (Doc. 92).
This case arises out of the manufacture and sale by defendant Spartan Tool, LLC of an Original Model 502 Cable Machine and Modified Model 502 Cable Machine (hereafter collectively "Model 502 Cable Machines"). Plaintiffs allege these machines infringe three patents owned by plaintiff Emerson Electric Co. (hereafter "Emerson") and licensed to plaintiff Ridge Tool Company (hereafter "Ridge"). Two of the patents-in-suit describe and claim a drain cleaning apparatus that drives a cleaning cable or snake in and out of drains and pipes to open blockages therein. The third patent-in-suit describes and claims a feed control device to be used with the drain cleaning apparatus to control the feed, i.e., inward and outward movement, of the cleaning cable.
For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion for Claim Construction of Claims 29 and 35 of the '588 Patent and of Claims 1 and 22 of the '905 Patent is GRANTED as set forth below; Plaintiffs' Motion for Claim Construction and for Summary Judgment of Infringement of Claim 24 of the '401 Patent is GRANTED as set forth below; Spartan's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment of Claim 24 of the '401 Patent is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment of Infringement of Claim 29 of the '588 Patent and of Claim 22 of the '905 Patent is GRANTED; Spartan's Cross Motion as to Claim 29 of the '588 Patent and Claim 22 of the '905 Patent is DENIED; Spartan's Motion for Summary Judgment on Non-Infringement is DENIED; Spartan's Motion for Summary Judgment on Invalidity is DENIED; and Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment of No Unenforceability is GRANTED.
Plaintiff Emerson is a Missouri corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of industrial products, including electric motors, compressors, measuring instruments, power tools and plumbing equipment. (2d Am.Compl. ¶¶ 1, 6). Plaintiff Ridge is an Ohio corporation with its principal place of business in Elyria, Ohio. (2d Am.Compl. ¶ 2). Ridge is a subsidiary of Emerson and manufactures, develops, markets and sells tools to the professional pipeworking and plumbing industry. (2d Am.Compl. ¶ 7).
Defendant is a limited liability company existing under the laws of the State of Delaware. (2d Am. Compl. ¶ 3; Ans. ¶ 3).
Emerson is the owner by assignment of three patents invented by Michael Rutkowski1 and directed to a method of cleaning pipes:
(1) U.S. Patent No. 6,009,588 entitled "Drain Cleaning Apparatus" (hereafter "'588 Patent");
(2) U.S. Patent No. 6,243,905 entitled "Drain Cleaning Apparatus" (hereafter "'905 Patent"); and
(3) U.S. Patent No. 5,901,401 entitled "Feed Control Device for Plumbing Tools" (hereafter "'401 Patent").
('588 Patent; '905 Patent; '401 Patent). Ridge is the exclusive licensee of all three patents. (2d Am.Compl. ¶¶ 10, 17, 26).
The '588 Patent was issued on January 4, 2000 and discloses an invention described as follows:
The inner end of a snake or drain cleaning cable coiled in a rotatable cable storage drum of drain cleaning apparatus is provided with a torque arm which frictionally engages the outer wall of the drum to restrain sliding of the cable relative thereto during a drain cleaning operation. The drain cleaning apparatus is motor driven, and a cable feed device for axially displacing the cable relative to the storage drum is provided on the outer end of a flexible guide tube detachably mounted on the apparatus to facilitate an operator guiding the outer end of the table [sic] into a drain to be cleaned and advancing or retracting the cable relative to the apparatus without having to physically contact the cable.
('588 Patent Abstract). The invention relates to the art of drain cleaning apparatus and, specifically, "to improvements in connection with transmitting torque to the drain cleaning cable in such apparatus and directing and feeding the cable into a drain or waste line to be cleaned." . The invention seeks to provide improvements to the art by considerably increasing the torque transmitted from the cable storage drum to the cable over that previously available and providing the operator with a manually operable device for feeding the cable to and from the storage drum, thus precluding him from having to manually pull or push the cable relative to the drum. . In addition, the flexibility of the guide tube enables the operator to direct the free end of the cable such that the cable can be fed or retracted without the operator having to touch it. .
The '905 Patent was issued on June 12, 2001 and is a continuation of the application that issued as the '588 Patent. Thus, the '905 Patent has claims of different scope directed to the same invention covered by the '588 Patent.
The '401 Patent was issued on May 11, 1999 and discloses a feed control device for plumbing tools which is "particularly suited for mounting on a hand held, power driven drain cleaning apparatus" having a drain cleaning cable contained in a rotating drum, such as that covered by the '588 and '905 Patents. ('401 Patent Abstract). When operating such an apparatus, the operator holds the feed control device in one hand and depresses its lever when he desires to move the cable axially in or out of the drum. . Because the lever is biased outward of the housing by a spring, the cable rotates but does not travel axially in or out of the drum when the operator stops applying pressure to the lever. .
Ridge sells the Model K-40 family of drain cleaners in several configurations. (Rutkowski Aug. 20 Depo. 34). The plain Model K-40 Drain Cleaner has no guide hose or power feed. (Rutkowski Aug. 20 Depo. 34). The Model K-40PF Drain Cleaner has a power feed attached directly to the drain cleaner without a guide tube. (Rutkowski Aug. 20 Depo. 34). The Model K-40GPF Drain Cleaner has a guide tube attached to the drain cleaner and a power feed attached to the end of the guide tube. (Rutkowski Aug. 20 Depo. 34).2 According to plaintiffs, the K-40GPF is the commercial embodiment of the '588 and '905 Patents, while the power feed used on the K-40PF and K-40GPF is covered by the claims of the '401 Patent.
Defendant sold the Original Model 502 Cable Machine from approximately October or November 1999 until October 19, 2000. (Sloter Depo. 65; Doc. 95 Ex. C). Rockwell Sloter3 testified that defendant obtained a K-40GPF sometime after a October 16, 1998 product development meeting during which the device was discussed in connection with replacing defendant's Model 81, a drain cleaning device that had been sold by defendant since 1981. (Sloter Depo. 18, 26-27). One of the agenda items for that meeting was to discuss putting a flexible tube or "cable safety guide" over the cable of the Model 81 "like Ridge has" on the K-40GPF. (Sloter Depo. 24-25).
A Memorandum from defendant's November 11, 1998 product development meeting lists reverse engineering the K-40GPF as a future project agenda item. (Sloter Depo. 29; Doc. 104 Ex. M). Sloter testified that the reasons for reverse engineering Ridge's device were to "look at it" and "develop a replacement for" the Model 81. (Sloter Depo. 29-30). According to Sloter, reverse engineering a product includes visually inspecting it, taking it apart, testing it and checking its performance. (Sloter Depo. 30-31). By January 18, 1999, defendant had decided to design a drum and frame for what would become the Model 502 Cable Machines to look similar in appearance to Ridge's K-40 line. (Sloter Depo. 39-40; Doc. 104 Ex. N). As noted above, defendant began selling its Original Model 502 Cable Machine in the fall of 1999.
Plaintiffs filed suit in this matter on February 4, 2000. (Doc. 1). In response to plaintiffs' allegations of infringement, defendant redesigned the Original Model 502 Cable Machine and replaced it with the Modified Model 502 Cable Machine in October 2000. (Doc. 95 Ex. C). Plaintiffs allege that defendant has been and is now infringing all three patents by making, selling and offering for sale the Model 502 Cable Machines. (2d...
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