Oakley, Inc. v. Sunglass Hut Intern.

• Decision Date: 09 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-1132.,02-1132.
• Citation: 316 F.3d 1331
• Parties: OAKLEY, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SUNGLASS HUT INTERNATIONAL, Lenscrafters, Inc., Ray Ban Sun Optics, Luxottica Group S.p.A., and Leonardo Del Vecchio, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

316 F.3d 1331

OAKLEY, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SUNGLASS HUT INTERNATIONAL, Lenscrafters, Inc., Ray Ban Sun Optics, Luxottica Group S.p.A., and Leonardo Del Vecchio, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 02-1132.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

January 9, 2003.

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Joseph F. Jennings, Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, of Newport Beach, CA, argued for plaintiff-appellee. With him on the brief were Gerard von Hoffmann, III, Paul N. Conover, and Joseph S. Cianfrani. Of counsel on the brief were Gregory L. Weeks, Janet Robertson Kaufman, and Gregory K. Nelson, Weeks, Kaufman & Johnson, of Solana Beach, CA.

John M. Benassi, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, of San Diego, CA, argued for defendants-appellants. With him on the brief were Franklin D. Ubell, and Colbern C. Stuart, III. Of counsel on the brief was Joseph DiBenedetto, Winston & Strawn, of New York, NY. Of counsel was Anthony W. Shaw, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, of Washington, DC.

Before NEWMAN, LOURIE, and DYK, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge LOURIE. Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge DYK.

LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

Sunglass Hut International, Lenscrafters, Inc., Ray Ban Sun Optics, Luxottica Group S.p.A., and Leonardo Del Vecchio (collectively, "Sunglass Hut") appeal from the decision of the United States District Court for the Central District of California granting a preliminary injunction affecting certain of the defendants' sunglass lenses that the court held to be likely to infringe Oakley's U.S. Patent 5,054,902. Oakley Inc. v. Sunglass Hut Int'l, 61 USPQ2d 1658, 1662, 1669 (C.D.Cal.2001). Because the court did not abuse its discretion in ordering the injunction, and because the injunction is not otherwise infirm, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Oakley owns the '902 patent, issued to William J. King and directed to a sunglass lens. The claimed lens comprises three layers: a substrate, a middle semireflective layer, and an outer dielectric layer. '902 patent, col. 23, ll. 56-66. The reflectance of the semireflective layer and the thickness of the dielectric layer must be such that a "vivid colored appearance" is produced by an interference "differential effect" of light reflected from the lens. Id. at col. 23, l. 67 to col. 24, l. 66. Claim 1 of the patent, which defines the invention in terms of those limitations, reads as follows:

1. A lens for sunglasses to be worn by a wearer, comprising

a light transmissive substrate constituting the lens body, and having a first side for facing the wearer and a second side of [sic] facing outwardly from the wearer,

a semireflective layer intimately bonded to the second side, and

a dielectric layer over said semireflective layer, said dielectric layer being of substantially uniform thickness,

the reflectance of said semireflective layer and the thickness of said dielectric layer producing, at one or more wavelengths, a differential effect in intensity, of reflected light incident upon said lens from the direction faced by said second side, by interference between incident light reflected from said dielectric layer and light transmitted through said dielectric layer and reflected from said smireflecting [sic] layer, said differential effect altering the spectral distribution of light in an amount for producing a vivid colored appearance formed by said two layers when viewing toward the wearer from the direction faced by said second side.

Id. at col. 23, l. 55 col. 24, l. 66 (emphases added).

The optics of the differential effect is illustrated in Figure 6(a) of the patent, which follows:

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

As this drawing shows, light from the observer side of the lens is transmitted into a glass dielectric layer 8 towards the wearer (not shown). Within the dielectric layer 8, the light reflects successively between the two interfaces of the dielectric layer 8, each time with diminishing amplitude. Every internal reflection at the glass-air interface transmits light toward the observer, as depicted by rays R₂, R₃, and R₄. The phases of those light rays, after accounting for phase changes at interfaces, are dependent upon the thickness t of the dielectric layer 8, as that thickness determines the path lengths of the internal reflections. Furthermore, the reflectance of the semireflective layer 9 determines the strength of the internal reflections at the glass-air interface and hence the strength of the outwardly emanating rays R₂, R₃, and R₄. By choosing an appropriate thickness of the dielectric layer 8 (i.e., t) and reflectance of the semireflective layer 9, the inventors were able to construct the lens such that the rays R₂, R₃, and R₄ constructively and destructively interfere with each other and with R₁ in varying strengths at given wavelengths. The invention of the '902 patent is the basic lens structure depicted in Figure 6(a) having a dielectric thickness and a semireflective reflectance value such that the cumulative effect of the interference among R₁, R₂, R₃, etc. is a "differential effect" producing a "vivid colored appearance" to the observer.

The specification sets forth a formula for calculating the "differential effect," also called "differential level," as follows:

Differential Level = (I_C — I_R)/I_R

where I_C is the enhanced intensity of reflected light at a given wavelength λ_c, and I_R is a reference intensity. E.g., id. at col. 7, ll. 12-24. The enhanced intensity I_C is the algebraic sum of the reflected rays R₁, R₂, R₃, etc. (e.g., I_c = R₁ + R₂-R₃ + R₄ for the lens shown in Figure 6(a), constructively interfering rays being added, and destructively interfering rays being subtracted). See id. at col. 10, ll. 25-28 (omitting the term R₄ because it is negligible). In the formula, different reference intensities are utilized throughout the '902 specification. For example, the formula is first introduced with "the random background intensity" I_B (calculated as I_B ~ R₁) used as the reference. Id. at col. 7, ll. 12-24. Later, the specification calculates I_B as R₂ ~ [(R₁ + R₄) R₃]. Id. at col. 9, ll. 48-58. In other places, the reference is at an "average noncoherent [wavelength] λ_A," calculated as R₂ + ½(R₁ R₃). Id. at col. 10, ll. 29-35, 66-68. In still other places, the specification utilizes as the reference the intensity of light at a different wavelength λ_D that is reflected from the lens in a net destructive fashion. E.g., id. at col. 10, ll. 42-54.

The '902 specification discloses a number of embodiments, and for each embodiment calculates a differential effect in multiple ways, under multiple circumstances. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6(a), reproduced above, in which the reflectance of the semireflective layer 9 is 20%, the specification calculates the differential effect to be 44% above λ_D or 8.3% above λ_A. Id. at col. 10, ll. 15-54. When that same embodiment is additionally subjected to light incident from the back surface of the lens, the specification calculates the differential effect above λ_D to be 7.5% in the worst case or 29.8% in a realistic case. Id. at col. 12, ll. 22-60. In a similar embodiment, in which the reflectance of the semireflective layer is 30%, the specification calculates the differential effect as 25.96% above λ_D or 5.45% above λ_A. Id. at col. 10, l. 58 to col. 11, l. 12. In another embodiment having a different dielectric material, the maximum differential effect is purported to be 405%. Id. at col. 11, l. 49.

In distinction to the claimed invention, which includes a "semireflective" middle layer, the patent disclaims the same basic three-layer lens structure having a middle layer that is highly reflective. Such a lens is illustrated in the specification's Figure 5(b), reproduced below:

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

As can be seen, the prior art depicted in Figure 5(b) includes a 90% reflectance middle layer 7 where the Figure 6(a) embodiment had a 20% reflectance middle layer 9. The specification calculates the maximum differential effect for that prior art lens to be 2.3%. Id. at col. 9, ll. 59-65. The specification explains that this is a poor result, stating: "Interference colors on such highly reflecting metal surfaces therefore tend to be weak or washed out to the eye because of the small differential intensities involved." Id. at col. 10, ll. 11-14.

During prosecution of the application that led to the '902 patent, the patent examiner rejected the claims as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 3,679,291, issued to Joseph H. Apfel, et al. King overcame that rejection by amending the independent claim to include the phrase "said differential effect altering the spectral distribution of light in an amount for producing a vivid colored appearance formed by said two layers when viewing toward the wearer from the direction faced by said second side." While acknowledging that Apfel disclosed a three-layer lens structure resembling his claimed lens structure, King distinguished Apfel's lens from his invention on the basis of the reflectance of the middle layer and the resulting vividness. Specifically, King represented to the examiner that Apfel's middle layer, being a material named INCONEL and having a thickness of 675 Angstroms, had a 94% reflectance. Thus, according to King, Apfel did not disclose or suggest his invention's "vividly colored reflected light produced by interference." The Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") then issued the '902 patent, and the patentability of claim 1 was later confirmed in a reexamination proceeding.¹

Oakley manufactures sunglasses having metallic green and blue colored lenses that Oakley refers to as "Emerald" and "Ice" respectively. See Oakley, 61 USPQ2d at 1668-69. According to Oakley, those lenses have a "vivid colored appearance" and are covered by the '902 patent. Those sunglasses had been marketed exclusively by...