Resqnet.Com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc.

• Citation: 346 F.3d 1374
• Decision Date: 16 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. 03-1163.,03-1163.
• Parties: RESQNET.COM, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LANSA, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

346 F.3d 1374

RESQNET.COM, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LANSA, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-1163.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

DECIDED: October 16, 2003.

Jeffrey I. Kaplan, Kaplan & Gilman, L.L.P., of Woodbridge, New Jersey, argued for plaintiff-appellant. With him on the brief was Timothy X. Gibson.

James H. Hulme, Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief was D. Jacques Smith.

Before NEWMAN, MICHEL, and RADER, Circuit Judges.

RADER, Circuit Judge.

ResQNet.com, Inc. (ResQNet) sued Lansa, Inc. (Lansa) for infringement of United States Patent Nos. 5,530,961, 5,831,608, and 6,295,075. To facilitate appeal after the district court construed the claims, the parties entered into a consent judgment that Lansa's systems would not infringe. ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc., Civil Action No. 01 Civ. 3578(RWS), 2002 WL 31002811 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 5, 2002) (Claim Construction); ResQNet.com v. Lansa, Inc., Civil Action No. 01 Civ. 3578(RWS) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 4, 2002, & July 9, 2003) (Consent Judgment). While the district court properly construed claim 1 of the '961 patent, it erred in construing claim 1 of the '608 patent and claim 1 of the '075 patent. Thus, this court affirms-in-part, reverses-in-part, and remands the case for further proceedings.

I.

The three patents-in-suit claim, in relevant part, "screen recognition" and terminal emulation — processes that download a screen of information from a remote mainframe computer onto a local personal computer (PC). Mainframe computers permit multiple users to simultaneously access one central computer. Before the widespread use of PCs, each user would connect to the mainframe using a so-called "dumb terminal." A dumb terminal typically included a monitor for displaying text and a keyboard for data entry. A dumb terminal, as its name implies, did not process or reformat the data received from the mainframe. Rather, the dumb terminal simply displayed the information from the mainframe. Symmetrically, the dumb terminal sent all data entry back to the mainframe for processing. Because a dumb terminal's monitor generally was a monochromatic green, the display was called a "green screen."

Gradually, PCs replaced dumb terminals. Unlike a dumb terminal, a PC does not merely send and receive information. Rather, a PC uses software to facilitate communication to and from the mainframe. With that software, a PC does not simply mimic a dumb terminal, but processes the information into a graphical user interface (GUI) format, which is much more user-friendly. Although the GUI format displays and receives information to and from the user, the PC still sends and receives information only in the manner understood by the mainframe, i.e., as if a dumb terminal were connected to the mainframe. In relevant part, the asserted patents specifically facilitate recognition of the information that the mainframe sends to the PC.

In a prior art technique of screen recognition, the mainframe would send a screen identification (screen ID), along with other information, to the local PC. Once it received the screen ID, the PC would display the information in a predetermined manner. If the screen ID changed, the manner of display would also change. The '961 patent describes three potential problems with this prior art technique. First, the mainframe must send a screen ID so that the PC can properly display the information. If the PC does not download a screen ID, "the display routine does not know how the screen of information should be displayed." '961 patent, col. 2, ll. 48-49. Next, the application cannot change without also changing the screen ID. If fields within the screen of information have either been added or deleted, the PC will not display those additions or deletions. Id. at col. 2, l. 50 — col. 3, l. c2. And finally, changes to the application at the mainframe are not dynamic. For example, "[i]f the remote application at the host is changed, the display routine must be rewritten to (i) recognize new fields and (ii) not display fields which are no longer present. Additionally, new programming at the host application may be required in order to provide a new screen ID number." Id. at col. 3, ll. 6-11.

To avoid these problems, the '961 patent "relates to a display routine which is based upon an algorithm which recognizes the screen by the layout and fields therein, not based solely upon the particular screen ID number." Id. at col. 3, ll. 21-24. The asserted claims — claim 2 of the '961 patent, claim 1 of the '608 patent, and claim 1 of the '075 patent — each require an algorithm that recognizes the screen based on the information downloaded from the mainframe to the PC.

In construing these claims, the district court (at the parties' behest) primarily focused on claim 1 of the '961 patent because that claim is the independent claim upon which claim 2 depends and because the other two patents' specifications refer to the '961 patent. The '608 patent is a continuation-in-part of the '961 patent. The '075 patent, however, is not part of the '961 patent family. Although its construction focused on claim 1 of the '961 patent, the district court also addressed similar limitations present in the claims of the '608 and '075 patents. Thus, the trial court construed claim 1 of the '961 patent:

A user terminal for connecting to a remote host comprising:

means for receiving information to be displayed as a first image on a screen;

means for processing said information to generate a screen identification ("ID") from said first image, said ID being generated as a function of the number, location, and length of each field in said first image said ID uniquely identifying said first image;

means for comparing said generated ID to a list of stored IDs, and for selecting display parameters associated with a stored ID which matches said generated ID; and

means for displaying said information on a user display as a second image having display parameters associated with said stored ID, said second image being determined based upon the generated ID.

The trial court also construed claim 1 of the '608 patent:

Apparatus for implementing a computer terminal to be connected to a remote computer, said apparatus comprising:

means for identifying a particular user logged on to said remote computer through said computer terminal;

means for identifying, based upon a position, length and type of each of a plurality of fields, a particular screen to be displayed to said user; and

a plurality of special function keys, each key performing a specified function, the specified function performed by each key being determined by the particular user logged on and the particular screen identified to be displayed.

Finally, the trial court construed claim 1 of the '075 patent:

The method of communicating between a host computer and a remote terminal over a data network comprising steps of:

establishing a first communication session between said terminal and a communications server via a first communications channel;

downloading, from said server to said terminal, communications software for communicating between said terminal and said host and a plurality of specific screen identifying information;

utilizing said communications software to implement a second communications session between said terminal and said host via a second communications channel independent of said server;

receiving a screen from said host to said terminal;

if said received screen matches one of the plurality of specific screen identifying information, displaying a customized GUI screen; and

if said received screen does not match one of the plurality of specific screen identifying information, displaying a default GUI screen.

The parties requested the district court to construe "information," which appears in the '961 and '075 patents' claims. This term does not appear in the '608 patent's claim. The district court first construed claim 1 of the '961 patent to refer to "the entire layout of a green screen ... includ[ing], for the purposes of generating a screen ID, at least the number, length, and location of all fields of data on a screen." Claim Construction, slip op. at 22 (emphasis added). The district court also construed claim 1 of the '608 patent to refer to "the `type' of every field of the `green screen.'" Id. (emphasis added). Finally, the district court construed claim 1 of the '075 patent congruently to claim 1 of the '961 patent, holding that "all fields on the screen are utilized." Id. at 18 (emphasis added). Thus, the district court limited all three of the claims to systems and methods that use all fields (or every field), and not merely some fields, to identify an incoming screen. This court has jurisdiction over ResQNet's appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a).

II.

This court reviews claim construction decisions without deference. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1456 (Fed.Cir.1998) (en banc). This court discerns the meaning of claim language according to its usage and context. A fundamental principle for discerning the usage of claim language is the ordinary and accustomed meaning of the words amongst artisans of ordinary skill in the relevant art at the time of invention. See Rexnord Corp. v. Laitram Corp., 274 F.3d 1336, 1342 (Fed.Cir.2001). Indeed, normal rules of usage suggest a "heavy presumption" that claim terms carry their accustomed meaning in the relevant community at the relevant time. CCS Fitness, Inc. v. Brunswick Corp., 288 F.3d 1359, 1366 (Fed.Cir.2002) (citing Johnson Worldwide Assocs., Inc. v. Zebco Corp., 175 F.3d 985, 989 (Fed.Cir.1999)). In ascertaining the accustomed usage of the relevant community at the relevant time, dictionaries and treatises may also assist the courts. Tex. Digital Sys., Inc. v. Telegenix, Inc., 308 F.3d 1193, 1202-03 (Fed.Cir.2002). Of course, a patent applicant may...