Omega Engineering, Inc v. Raytek Corp.
| Decision Date | 07 July 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-1546.,No. 02-1478.,01-1546.,02-1478. |
| Citation | 334 F.3d 1314 |
| Parties | OMEGA ENGINEERING, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RAYTEK CORPORATION, Davis Instrument Manufacturing Company, Inc., Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, and Dwyer Instruments, Inc., Defendants-Appellees. Raytek Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Omega Engineering, Inc., Defendant-Appellant, and Newport Electronics, Inc., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
Richard G. Greco, Kaye, Scholer LLP, of New York, NY, argued for Omega Engineering, Inc. of counsel on the brief were Peter W. Peterson and Robert Curcio, DeLio & Peterson, LLC, of New Haven, CT, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
A. James Isbester, Isbester & Associates, of Berkeley, CA, argued for Raytek Corporation, et al. With him on the brief were Robert L. Risberg and Paul Svendsen, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before MICHEL, CLEVENGER, and SCHALL, Circuit Judges.
Omega Engineering, Inc. ("Omega") appeals the grants of summary judgment in favor of Raytek Corporation, Davis Instrument Manufacturing Company, Inc., Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, and Dwyer Instruments, Inc. (collectively "Raytek"). In this appeal involving three consolidated actions, the district court ruled that Raytek did not infringe the asserted claims of U.S. Patents Nos. 5,727,880 (the " '880 patent"), 5,823,678 (the "'678 patent"), and 5,823,679 (the "'679 patent"). Based on its claim construction, the trial court also invalidated claims 33 and 41 of the '679 patent as indefinite. Because the district court erred in its claim construction of the patents in suit, we reverse and remand.
The patents in suit relate to a laser sighting system for use on infrared thermometers. Such sighting systems address a problem particular to the operation of infrared thermometers, which are also called radiometers.
Before the advent of radiometers, mercury thermometers and other traditional means of measuring an object's temperature required physical contact between the sensor and the measured object. In many situations, however, physical contact is difficult or even impossible, such as when the object is a moving piece of machinery in an industrial setting or has a temperature that exceeds the melting point of the sensor.
To address that problem, infrared thermometers can measure a surface's temperature remotely by assessing the amount of heat energy emitted in the form of infrared radiation. The radiometer detects infrared energy through a lens, which receives and directs radiation in the same way that the optics of a telescope receive visible light waves. Like a telescope, the radiometer's lens only detects radiation within its optical "field of view."
Because the radiometer measures temperature by averaging the temperature of all surfaces within its field of view, the optimum temperature measurement occurs when the target area perfectly fills the entire field of view. Under less than optimum conditions, the indicated temperature represents a mixture of object and background temperatures, possibly leading to inaccurate readings. It is therefore important to determine the location of the field of view and the extent to which it encompasses the target area.
Since infrared radiation is not visible to the naked eye, a radiometer user cannot easily determine the size and position of the surface area encompassed by the field of view. Several sighting systems for infrared thermometers have attempted to address that problem. For instance, U.S. Patent No. 4,494,881 issued to Everest ("Everest") illuminates the entire area encompassed by the field of view by directing onto it a beam of incandescent light. Similarly, Japanese Patent No. 62-12848 ("JP 62-12848") uses a plurality of incandescent light beams to identify the target area and its periphery. Other systems, such as the one disclosed by U.S. Patent No. 4,315,150 issued to Derringer ("Derringer"), use a single laser beam directed to the center of the area covered by the field of view.
The patents in suit disclose another sighting system for infrared thermometers. These patents teach methods or devices for using one or more laser beams to visually "outline" or determine "the periphery" of the surface area encompassed by the field of view. That target area within the field of view is known as the "energy zone," which the patents define as the surface area from which emanates 90 percent of the radiated energy received by the radiometer. '880 patent, col. 2, ll. 15-16; '678 patent, col. 2, ll. 25-26; '679 patent, col. 2, ll. 30-31.
The three patents in suit have the same genealogy, originating from an ancestor patent application that matured into U.S. Patent No. 5,368,392 (the "'392 patent"). The oldest patent in suit, the '880 patent, is the grandchild of the '392 patent and discloses a sighting device using at least one laser beam to outline the energy zone. The broadest claim covers:
1. A laser sighting device for outlining an energy zone to be measured by a radiometer when measuring the temperature of a surface, said device including:
means for projecting at least one laser beam toward said surface; and
means for causing said at least one laser beam to strike the periphery of the energy zone for visibly outlining said entire energy zone.
'880 patent, col. 9, ll. 34-41 (emphases added). Claim 16 covers a laser sighting device to identify the center and periphery of the energy zone:
16. A laser sighting device for identifying and defining the center and periphery of an energy zone to be measured by a radiometer when measuring the temperature of a surface, said device including:
means for projecting project at least one laser beam toward said surface; and
means for causing said at least one laser beam to identify and define both the center and only the periphery of said energy zone.
Id., col. 10, ll. 24-33 (emphases added). All of the asserted claims of this patent (claims 1, 3, 16 and 18) are concededly written in means-plus-function format.
As a continuation in part of the '880 patent, the '678 patent claims methods and devices using more than two laser beams to outline the energy zone. Claim 1 of the '678 patent states:
1. A method for outlining an energy zone on a surface whose temperature is to be measured using the combination of a radiometer and a laser aiming device, said method comprising the steps of providing said laser device associated with said radiometer, and causing said device to emit simultaneously a plurality of more than two laser beams towards said surface to strike said surface at individual mutually spaced locations to outline said energy zone.
'678 patent, col. 10, ll. 55-62 (emphases added).
Although it issued on the same day as the '678 patent, the '679 patent is in fact a continuation in part of the '678 patent and teaches the use of at least three laser beams to outline the energy zone. The broadest independent claim of the '679 patent covers:
1. A method for outlining an energy zone on a surface whose temperature is to be measured using the combination of a temperature measurement device and a laser sighting device, said method comprising the steps of providing a laser sighting device associated with said temperature measurement device and causing said laser device to emit a plurality of at least three laser beams toward said surface to strike said surface simultaneously at mutually spaced locations serving to outline said energy zone.
'679 patent, col. 12, l. 64-col. 13, l. 5 (emphases added).
Omega asserted infringement of all three patents by Raytek's MX and ST series devices. The MX models use a diffraction device to divide a laser beam into sixteen separate beams, fifteen of which are directed to the periphery of the energy zone while the sixteenth beam is directed to the center of the zone. Similarly, the ST models use a diffraction device or beam splitter to divide a laser beam into multiple beams projecting around the energy zone, with one beam directed into the center of the energy zone. In its pleadings, Omega asserted that the MX and ST devices infringed claims 1, 3, 16 and 18 of the '880 patent; all of the claims of the '678 patent except claim 5; and claims 1 to 53 of the '679 patent.
In resolving the parties' claim construction disputes, the district court interpreted the phrases "to outline the energy zone," "outline visibly" the energy zone, "to outline visibly the periphery," and equivalent phrases in the asserted claims of the '678 and '679 patents as excluding a laser beam directed inside the energy zone. The trial court also interpreted "means for causing" in claim 1 of the '880 patent as projecting a laser beam toward the surface but not encompassing any "light striking the center or interior portion of the energy zone." In the same vein, the court read claim 16 of the '880 patent as precluding the simultaneous identification of the center and periphery of the energy zone by the "means for causing."
Based on its construction of the claims and the undisputed fact that the accused devices have a laser beam directed to the center of the energy zone, the district court granted summary judgment of noninfringement in Raytek's favor. In the alternative, the trial court also granted summary judgment invalidating claims 33 and 41 of the '679 patent for indefiniteness, because claims 33 and 41 explicitly require a central laser beam while being dependent on claims construed to exclude any laser beam directed inside the energy zone. Omega timely appealed, vesting us with jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1).
We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, without deference to the district court's determinations. IMS Tech., Inc. v. Haas Automation, Inc., 206 F.3d 1422, 1429, 54 USPQ2d 1129, 1133 (Fed.Cir.2000). We therefore reapply the standard set forth in Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. SunTiger, Inc. v....
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