Innova/Pure Water v. Safari Water Filtration

• Decision Date: 11 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. 04-1097.,04-1097.
• Citation: 381 F.3d 1111
• Parties: INNOVA/PURE WATER, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAFARI WATER FILTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. (doing business as Safari Outdoor Products), Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

Page 1111

381 F.3d 1111

INNOVA/PURE WATER, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SAFARI WATER FILTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. (doing business as Safari Outdoor Products), Defendant-Appellee.

No. 04-1097.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

DECIDED: August 11, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Steven D. Merryday, J.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert A. Vanderhye, Nixon & Vanderhye P.C., of Arlington, VA, argued for plaintiff-appellant.

Catherine E. Stetson, Hogan & Hartson, LLP, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee. On the brief were Raymond A. Kurz and Celine Jimenez Crowson.

Before CLEVENGER, RADER, and LINN, Circuit Judges.

CLEVENGER, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Innova/Pure Water, Inc. ("Innova") appeals the decision of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granting summary judgment of noninfringement in favor of Defendant-Appellee Safari Water Filtration Systems, Inc. ("Safari") and denying Innova's attempt to amend its complaint to add a later issued patent. Innova/Pure Water, Inc. v. Safari Water Filtration Sys., Inc., 289 F.Supp.2d 1347 (M.D.Fla.2003). Because the district court erred in its interpretation of the term "operatively connected," we vacate the district court's summary judgment of noninfringement and remand for further proceedings. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow Innova to amend its complaint to add a later issued patent, we affirm that decision.

I

Innova sued Safari for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,609,759 ("the '759 patent"). The '759 patent, entitled, "Bottle Filter Cap," is directed to a water filter assembly and a container incorporating the assembly. In general terms, the filter assembly described includes a tube of filtering material (alternatively, "filter tube"), a bottle cap, and a valve for dispensing water. In some of the depicted embodiments, the assembly is positioned at the mouth of a container which is a bottle, sealing the bottle and suspending the tube of filtering material in the bottle. More broadly, the filter assembly operates to place the tube of filtering material between the water in the bottle and the valve so that water is filtered before it exits the bottle. Various embodiments are depicted in Figures 1-12 of the '759 patent.

Safari's accused product is a water bottle with a tube of filtering material, a bottle cap, and a valve. In operation, the tube of filtering material is suspended in the mouth of the bottle by means of an annular flange that rests on the mouth of the bottle. The tube of filtering material is mechanically sealed in position when the bottle cap is screwed over the mouth of the bottle, thereby contacting the annular flange and fixing the tube of filtering material in position to filter water before it exits the bottle.

At the district court, Innova moved for summary judgment of infringement, asserting literal infringement, or, barring that, infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, of independent claims 1 and 15, and dependent claims 5, 11, and 17-20. Safari moved for summary judgment of noninfringement.

In part, the independent claims at issue in the '759 patent state:

1. A filter assembly for use with a bottle having a circular cross-section neck or open end to simultaneously cap the neck or open end and filter liquid poured out of the bottle through the neck or open end, comprising:

a tube of filtering material ... a cap ... said cap having first and second substantially opposite surfaces ... a manual valve operatively associated with said cap, in fluid communication with said tube of filtering material and manually movable between a position defining means for allowing liquid flow through said tube and a position defining means not allowing liquid flow through said tube; and

said tube operatively connected to said cap second surface at said tube second open end....

'759 patent, col. 6, ll. 46-64 (emphasis added).

15. A container for dispensing filtered water, comprising:

a plastic bottle ... a plastic cap ... said cap having first and second substantially opposite surfaces ... a ... tube of or containing filtering material ... a manual valve operatively associated with said cap, in fluid communication with said tube of filtering material and manually movable between a position defining means for allowing liquid flow through said tube and a position defining means not allowing liquid flow through said tube; and

said tube operatively connected to said cap second surface, and said tube having an outside diameter less than said inside diameter of said neck, and positioned with respect to said-cap within said bottle so that said tube axis is substantially transverse to said second surface and so that flow of liquid through said tube is primarily radial with respect to said tube axis during filtering, and through said side wall.

Id., col. 7, l. 55 to col. 8, l. 17 (emphasis added).

The district court construed the claim term "operatively connected" to require that the tube of filtering material be affixed to the cap, i.e., "not merely adjoining or abutting, but affixing the tube to the cap by some tenacious means of physical engagement that results in a unitary structure." Concluding that the annular flange arrangement of Safari's accused product is such that the filter tube is "never affixed to the cap by some tenacious means of physical engagement as required by claims 1 and 15," the district court denied Innova's motion for summary judgment and granted Safari's motion for summary judgment of noninfringement.

On appeal, Innova argues that the district court erred when it interpreted the claims to require that the tube of filtering material be affixed to the cap "by some tenacious means of physical engagement that results in a unitary structure." Innova thus asserts that the district court's conclusions regarding literal infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents cannot stand in light of the proper claim construction and proposes that we reverse, order summary judgment of infringement, and remand for trial on damages and intentional infringement. Safari insists that the district court properly understood the meaning of "operatively connected" and, particularly in light of the written description and prosecution history, asserts that the claims can only be interpreted as requiring the tenacious physical engagement of the tube of filtering material and the cap. Therefore, argues Safari, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment.

Innova's appeal also challenges the district court's refusal to allow Innova to amend its complaint to add claims of infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,165,362 ("the '362 patent"). The '362 patent issued on December 26, 2000, from an application that claimed priority to the application that issued as the asserted '759 patent. Innova's motion to amend was filed June 13, 2001, approximately six months after issuance, ten months after the close of discovery (August 1, 2000), and nine months after the filing of summary judgment motions (September 2000). According to the district court, allowing "[a]mendment at [that] stage of the litigation, following Innova's delay, would unduly prejudice Safari." Innova now argues that the district court abused its discretion by denying the motion to amend because there was no delay on Innova's part, and no unfair prejudice to Safari would result from allowing the motion.

II

This is an appeal from a final decision of a district court and we have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1). We review summary judgment de novo. Conroy v. Reebok Int'l, Ltd., 14 F.3d 1570, 1575 (Fed.Cir.1994). It is well established that determining infringement is a two-step process. Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967, 976 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc), aff'd, 517 U.S. 370, 116 S.Ct. 1384, 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996). First, the meaning and scope of the relevant claims must be ascertained. Id. Second, the properly construed claims must be compared to the accused device. Id. Claim construction, or interpretation, is a question of law. Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370, 116 S.Ct. 1384, 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996); Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1454-56 (Fed.Cir.1998) (en banc). When exercising the power to review claim construction, this court determines the meaning and scope of the relevant claim language and decides whether the district court's determination of the meaning and scope of the relevant claim language is coterminous with that construction. Where it is not, the district court has erred in its construction of the claims.

Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Summary judgment is improper where "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party." 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Thus, after determining the proper meaning and scope of the relevant claim language, we decide without deference if the district court was correct in its judgment that no reasonable jury could find, either literally or by application of the doctrine of equivalents, each and every limitation recited in the properly construed claims in the accused device. Middleton, Inc. v. 3M, 311 F.3d 1384, 1387 (Fed.Cir.2002); Gart v. Logitech, Inc., 254 F.3d 1334, 1339 (Fed.Cir.2001); Bai v. L & L Wings, Inc., 160 F.3d 1350, 1353 (Fed.Cir.1998).

III

It is a bedrock principle of patent law that the claims of a patent define the invention to which the patentee is entitled the right to...