Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.

Decision Date30 September 1991
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 91-0940.
PartiesHerbert MARKMAN and Positek, Inc. v. WESTVIEW INSTRUMENTS, INC. and Althon Enterprises, Inc.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Lewis F. Gould, Jr., argued, Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellott, Philadelphia, Pa., Timothy P. Ryan, William B. Mallin, argued, Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellott, Pittsburgh, Pa., for plaintiffs.

Peter A. Vogt, argued, Gollatz, Griffin, Ewing & McCarthy, John C. Dorfman, Patrick J. Hagan, Dann, Dorfman, Herrell and Skillman, Philadelphia, Pa., Jack C. Goldstein, Terry D. Morgan, Arnold, White & Durkee, Houston, Tex., for Westview Instruments, Inc.

Peter A. Dunn, John C. Dorfman, Dann, Dorfman, Herrell and Skillman, Philadelphia, Pa., for Althon Enterprises, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

KATZ, District Judge.

The issue is a motion for a directed verdict in this patent infringement case about an inventory control device used by laundries and dry cleaners. Defendants argue that the language of the patent and evidence presented at trial require an interpretation by the court of the patent claims at issue. Defendants argue that the undisputed facts concerning the capabilities of its product coupled with the correct reading of the patent claims require a verdict in its favor. For the following reasons, this court grants the motion for a directed verdict. The ruling controls as to both defendants. The jury verdict in favor of defendants controls as to claim 14. This ruling controls as to claims 1 and 10.

The question of claim construction is a matter of law for the court. Kraus v. Bell Atlantic Corp., 716 F.Supp. 182, 184 (E.D.Pa.1989). As the court stated in Becton Dickinson and Co. v. C.R. Bard, Inc., 922 F.2d 792, 797 (Fed.Cir.1990), "A mere dispute concerning the meaning of a term does not itself create a genuine issue of material fact." Plaintiffs' expert did attempt to redefine several common words in unusual ways. Thus, plaintiffs have attempted to give novel meaning to the terms "inventory", "report" and "attached to" in order to sustain the claims of infringement.

The patent-in-suit, in pertinent part, states the following claims at issue:

CLAIM 1. The inventory control and reporting system, comprising;
a data input device for manual operation by an attendant, the input device having switch means operable to encode information relating to sequential transactions, each of the transactions having articles associated therewith, said information including transaction identity and descriptions of each of said articles associated with the transaction;
a data processor including memory operable to record said information and means to maintain an inventory total, said data processor having means to associate sequential transactions with unique sequential indicia and to generate at least one report of said total and said transactions, the unique sequential indicia and the descriptions of articles in the sequential transactions being reconcilable against one another;
a dot matrix printer operable under control of the data processor to generate a written record of the indicia associated with sequential transactions, the written record including optically-detectable bar codes having a series of contrasting spaced bands, the bar codes being printed only in coincidence with each said transaction and at least part of the written record bearing a portion to be attached to said articles; and,
at least one optical scanner connected to the data processor and operable to detect said bar codes on all articles passing a predetermined station,
whereby said system can detect and localize spurious additions to inventory as well as spurious deletions therefrom.
CLAIM 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the input device is a keyboard having alpha-numeric keys, and also having keys specific to a plurality of common attributes of the articles and common optional attributes of the sequential transactions, said common attributes being recorded using single key strokes.

Plaintiffs' expert testified that these claims "read on" Westview's system because: "report" means "invoice"; "attached to said articles" means "attached to a plastic bag that covers a batch of the articles"; and "inventory" means "cash" or "invoices" not "articles of clothing." These definitions are contrary to the ordinary and customary meaning of these terms, as well as the obvious meaning intended by the patentee, determined from the specifications, the drawings and the file histories of the original patent and the patent-in-suit. In interpreting the meaning of patent claims, "words in a claim `will be given their ordinary and accustomed meaning unless it appears that the inventor used them differently.'" Jonsson v. Stanley Works, 903 F.2d 812, 820 (Fed.Cir.1990) (quoting Envirotech Corp. v. Al George, Inc., 730 F.2d 753, 759 (Fed.Cir.1984); quoting Universal Oil Prods. Co. v. Globe Oil & Refining Co., 137 F.2d 3, 6 (7th Cir.1943), aff'd, 322 U.S. 471, 64 S.Ct. 1110, 88 L.Ed. 1399 (1944)). The inventor may not change the meaning of his words to fit the particular circumstances of a trial. Chicago Steel Foundry Co. v. Burnside Steel Foundry Co., 132 F.2d 812, 814-15 (7th Cir.1943).

Plaintiffs' technical expert's testimony is based on an artificial interpretation of key words and phrases that runs counter to their ordinary meaning. The patent expert's testimony about the interpretation of the claim is not helpful because that is a legal issue for the court. "Construction of claim scope (claim interpretation), ... is a question of law for decision by the trial judge on motion for JNOV.... Once an interpretation has been made, that same interpretation must be employed in determining literal infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents." Senmed, Inc. v. Richard-Allan Medical Industries, 888 F.2d 815, 818 (Fed.Cir. 1989).

A finding of literal infringement requires that the accused device include every element of the claim as properly...

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1 cases
  • Markman v. Westview Instruments
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • April 23, 1996
    ...in Markman's patent encompasses "both cash inventory and the actual physical inventory of articles of clothing." 772 F. Supp. 1535, 1537-1538 (ED Pa. 1991). Under the trial court's construction of the patent, the production, sale, or use of a tracking system for dry cleaners would not infri......
1 books & journal articles
  • Chapter §15.02 Judge Versus Jury as Interpreter
    • United States
    • Full Court Press Mueller on Patent Law Volume II: Patent Enforcement Title CHAPTER 15 Patent Claim Interpretation
    • Invalid date
    ...one" within the meaning of the case.76--------Notes:[10] 517 U.S. 370 (1996).[11] See, e.g., Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 772 F. Supp. 1535 (E.D. Pa. 1991) (following jury verdict for patentee, granting accused infringer's motion for directed verdict on meaning of asserted claims ......

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