Jonsson v. Stanley Works
| Decision Date | 28 April 1989 |
| Docket Number | C86-2026.,No. C85-357,C85-357 |
| Citation | 711 F. Supp. 1395 |
| Parties | Bert O. JONSSON, Besam AB and Besam Inc., Plaintiffs, v. The STANLEY WORKS, Defendant. The STANLEY WORKS, Plaintiff, v. BESAM, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Thomas D. Lambros, James J. Maune, Brumbaugh, Graves, Donahue & Raymond, New York City, Albert J. Knopp and Thomas Shunk, Baker & Hostetler, Cleveland, Ohio, for Jonsson and Besam.
Peter L. Costas, Costas & Montgomery, P.C., Hartford, Conn., Christopher B. Fagan, Fay, Sharpe, Fagan, Minnich & McKee, Cleveland, Ohio, for Stanley Works.
This is an action for patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a). Plaintiffs Jonsson, Besam AB and Besam, Inc. allege that acts of infringement occurred in this district and as defendant has a regular and established office for the transaction of business in this district, venue is proper.
Plaintiffs' action (C85-357), filed in this district in 1985, charges defendant with infringement of plaintiffs' U.S. Patent No. 4,467,251 (the '251 patent). The Stanley Works counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment that the patent is unenforceable, invalid and not infringed. The Stanley Works filed an action in the District of Connecticut (eventually transferred to this Court and docketed as C86-2026) alleging that Jonsson's U.S. Patent No. 4,560,912 (the '912 patent), a continuation of the '251 patent, was invalid, unenforceable, and not infringed by Stanley, and further sought relief for alleged unfair competition by Besam, Inc. The two cases have been consolidated.
Presently before the Court is Stanley's motion, filed December 2, 1988, for partial summary judgment of non-infringement. Plaintiffs (herein "Jonsson") and defendant ("Stanley") have filed extensive briefs in support of their respective positions, with pertinent exhibits attached.
Although the Court recognizes that summary judgment in the field of patent litigation is not common due to the frequently technical nature of the subject matter, both the Sixth Circuit and the Federal Circuit have indicated that summary judgment of non-infringement is appropriate where there are no genuine issues of material fact and when the Court, without the aid of expert opinion, can determine that the accused device does not infringe on the patents in suit. Scharmer v. Carrollton Mfg. Co., 525 F.2d 95, 103, 187 U.S.P.Q. 736, 742 (6th Cir.1975); Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik v. Murata Machinery Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 836, 221 U.S.P.Q. 561, 565 (Fed.Cir.1984). Upon review of the record, the Court determines that this is such a case.
The Court has read the submitted briefs and other documentary materials, which it finds to have properly defined and elucidated the issues. In addition, the Court has heard oral arguments addressed to the pending motion. Having carefully considered the submitted materials, the appropriate principles of law, and the contentions of the parties, this Court finds there are no genuine issues of material fact present herein and that defendant has satisfied the burden of proof under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(b) in arguing its defense of non-infringement. Accordingly, defendant's motion is granted.
Jonsson's United States Patent No. 4,467,251, entitled "Object Sensing Device," was issued August 21, 1984. The named inventor is Bert O. Jonsson, a resident of Vintrie, Sweden. Jonsson granted a license to Besam AB, a Swedish company. Besam, Inc. a Connecticut corporation is wholly owned by Besam AB, and has a sub-license under the '251 patent.
The subject matter of the patent in suit is an automatic door opening system of the type commonly found in supermarkets, hotels and hospitals. The device utilizes infrared proximity sensors on both sides of the door. The sensor on the non-swing side of the doorway (the "approach" sensor) generates a presence signal for opening the door when it detects a pedestrian approaching the doorway. The sensor on the swing-side of the doorway (the "safety" sensor) generates a signal for keeping the door from opening, or for keeping a partially open door from being opened further when the sensor detects a pedestrian on the safety side of the door who might otherwise be struck. The approach sensor also prevents the door from closing on someone passing through the doorway. The signals generated by the approach and safety sensors are transmitted to a door controller which operates a motor to open and close the door.
The sensors of other types of automatic door installations (the "prior art") feature pressure sensitive floor mats, interrupted light beams (where the door-opening signal is produced when a person blocks the beam), microwave proximity sensors as well as various arrangements of infrared sensors. Jonsson's door control system (commercially marketed as "visionpulse") consists of two horizontal bar sensor units extending across both sides of the door. Each bar consists of at least one horizontal row of infrared emitters and at least one horizontal row of infrared detectors. The '251 and '912 patents (appendix A) indicate that in each bar unit, the emitters emit wide angle (90 degree) diverging and overlapping fields of view (figures 1 and 4). In each unit, all of the infrared emitters are pulsed together in order to produce a field of radiation generally uniform along the entire length of the door. The zone of coverage is depicted in figure 4 (as viewed from the side) and in figure 5 (as viewed from above). All of the detectors are active at the same time when the emitters are pulsed so as to collectively detect reflected radiation from all directions along the length of the bar unit. A proximity signal is generated when the reflected radiation received by all of the detectors reaches a certain threshold level.
Each of the Jonsson patents has one independent claim. The '251 patent also has 3 dependent claims (2-4); the '912 patent has 9 dependent claims (2-10). Claim 1 of the '251 patent, which defines the principle of operation of Jonsson's Visionpulse unit, reads as follows:
In Jonsson's '912 patent, the following changes to Claim 1 were allowed: First, the description of the radiation sources was changed from "a plurality of elements, each for emitting a diverging beam in response to supplied electrical signals" to "means for emitting a diverging beam of diffuse radiation in response to a supplied electrical signal." Second, the description of the electrical signal generating component was changed from "simultaneously supplying electrical signals to all of said elements" to "means supplying an electrical signal to said emitting means". Third, the description of the detection component was changed from "a plurality of radiation detecting elements for providing an output signal representative of the presence of an object" to "radiation detecting means for providing an output signal representative of the presence of an object". Resolution of defendant's motion depends on the interpretation of the language in Claim 1, and on the arguments made by Jonsson in defining the scope of his claimed invention during proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office.
The contents, though not the ultimate meaning, of the '251/'912 "file wrapper," or history of the prosecution of the patent, are undisputed. Jonsson needed to convince the Patent Office that his invention was distinguishable from the prior art, most notably, the Scoville Patent, United States Patent No. 3,852,592. (Defendant's Exhibit BB). Scoville disclosed the illumination of approaching objects through the use of one emitter and one detector to create a diverging beam of ultraviolet light.
Jonsson's invention was first patented in Sweden. See Defendant's Exhibits H and I. As filed, Jonsson's United States application, filed on May 30, 1980, contained 18 claims: Claims 1-15 were directed to the object or obstacle detecting apparatus without any specific type of application, and Claims 16-18 were directed to control apparatus for a swing door utilizing two of the object sensing devices, one on each side of the door. The Examiner eventually allowed Claims 16-18, but rejected Claims 1-15.
In the Disclosure Statement (Defendant's Exhibit J) submitted in the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Jonsson v. Stanley Works
...and '251 patents, Stanley moved for partial summary judgment and the court granted Stanley's motion. See Jonsson v. Stanley Works, 711 F.Supp. 1395, 11 USPQ2d 1200 (N.D.Ohio 1989). In its opinion, the district court set forth the claims of the '912 and '251 patents that are in issue, and ex......
-
Sage Products, Inc. v. Devon Industries, Inc.
...Tarel Seven Design, Inc. v. Magni Group Inc., 16 U.S.P.Q.2d 1952, 1955, 1990 WL 118290 (C.D.Cal.1990); Jonsson v. Stanley Works, 711 F.Supp. 1395, 1407 (N.D.Ohio 1989), aff'd, 903 F.2d 812 (Fed.Cir.1990) (granting summary judgment of non-infringement notwithstanding the patentee's assertion......
-
Kaliardos v. General Motors Corp.
...limits a patentee's reliance on the doctrine of equivalents. ... Builders Concrete, 757 F.2d at 258; see also Jonsson v. Stanley Works, 711 F.Supp. 1395, 1403 (N.D.Ohio 1989) ("Arguments and remarks made by plaintiff's counsel during prosecution of the patent application can also be used to......