Richardson v. Stanley Works Inc

• Decision Date: 24 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 2009-1354.,2009-1354.
• Citation: 597 F.3d 1288
• Parties: David A. RICHARDSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STANLEY WORKS, INC., Defendants-Appel lee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

597 F.3d 1288

David A. RICHARDSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STANLEY WORKS, INC., Defendants-Appel lee.

No. 2009-1354.

United States Court of Appeals,

Federal Circuit.

March 9, 2010.

Rehearing En Banc Denied May 24, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Geoffrey S. Kercsmar, Kercsmar & Feltus, PLLC, of Scottsdale, AZ, argued for plaintiff-appellant.

Bryan P. Collins, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, of McLean, VA, argued for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief were Robert M. Fuhrer, and Kathy Peng.

Before LOURIE and DYK, Circuit Judges, and KENDALL, District Judge.^*

LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

David Richardson appeals from a final decision of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Richardson v. Stanley Works, Inc., 610 F.Supp.2d 1046 (D.Ariz.2009). After a bench trial, the district court found that Stanley Works, Inc. ("Stanley") did not infringe U.S. Patent D507J67 ("the '167 patent"). Because the court correctly construed the claim at issue and correctly determined that the patent was not infringed, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Richardson owns the '167 patent, a design patent that claims the design for a multi-function carpentry tool that combines a conventional hammer with a stud climbing tool and a crowbar. The tool is known as the "Stepclaw." The only claim of the '167 patent claims the ornamental design of the tool as depicted in figures 1 and 2 of the patent:

Stanley manufactures and sells construction tools. In 2005, Stanley introduced into the U.S. market a product line of tools by the series name "Fubar." The Fubar is sold in five different versions and is useful in carpentry, demolition, and construction work. Stanley successfully applied for and obtained U.S. Patent D562, 101 ("the '101 patent") on the basic Fubar design. All five versions of the tool are built around that same basic Fubar design. Figures 1 and 5 of the '101 patent are illustrative of the Fubar design:

On June 3, 2008, Richardson filed a complaint against Stanley in the district court for the District of Arizona alleging that the Fubar tools infringed his '167 patent. In addition, Richardson alleged that Stanley was unfairly competing with him in the U.S. market. In response to Richardson's complaint, Stanley first filed a motion to dismiss on September 10, 2008 and later filed an answer to the complaint on September 22, 2008. On October 22, 2008 Richardson filed his request for a jury trial, which Stanley moved to strike as untimely under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(b). In response, Richardson requested that a jury trial be granted under Rule 39(b). The district court granted Stanley's motion to strike and denied Richardson's Rule 39(b) motion. Richardson v Stanley Works, Inc., No. CV-08-1040PHX-NVW, 2009 WL 383554 (D.Ariz. Feb 13, 2009). The court also granted Stanley's motion to dismiss Richardson's unfair competition claim. Richardson v. Stanley Works, Inc., No. CV-08-1040-PHXNVW 2008 WL 4838708 (D.Ariz. Nov. 6, 2008). On April 2, 2009, the court conducted a bench trial on Richardson's patent infringement claim and entered judgment of noninfringement in favor of Stanley. Richardson, 610 F.Supp.2d at 1053. In its order, the court first distinguished, as part of its claim construction, the ornamental aspects from the functional aspects of Richardson's design and then determined that an ordinary observer, after discounting the functional elements of Richardson's design, would not be deceived into thinking that any of the Fubar tools were the same as Richardson's Stepclaw. Id, at 10501052. The court therefore concluded that the overall visual effect of the Fubar wasnot substantially similar to that of the Stepclaw, and that the '167 patent had not been infringed. Id. at 1053. Richardson timely appealed the court's rulings. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 1295(a)(1).

DISCUSSION

A. Claim Construction

Richardson argues that the district court's approach to evaluating infringement of a design patent was incorrect. Richardson primarily argues that the district court erred in its claim construction by separating the functional aspects of the design from the ornamental ones, rather than considering the design as a whole. Richardson argues that our Egyptian Goddess decision requires that the patented design be compared in its entirety with the accused design, and that the comparison be made from the perspective of an ordinary observer. See Egyptian Goddess Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 665 (Fed.Cir. 2008) (en banc). A claim construction such as the one performed by the district court Richardson argues, is necessary only for designs that contain "purely functional" elements. According to Richardson, a design element is purely functional only when the function encompassed by that element cannot be performed by any other design. Richardson contends that the overall design of the '167 patent is not dictated by the useful elements found in the tool, and that the functional parts of its design remain relevant to the scope of the patented claim.

We review claim construction de novo on appeal. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1456 (Fed.Cir. 1998) (en banc). We disagree with Richardson that the district court erred in its claim construction by separating the functional and ornamental aspects of the '167 patent design. In OddzOn, we affirmed a district court's claim construction wherein the court had carefully distinguished the ornamental features of the patented design from the overall "rocket-like" appearance of the design of a football-shaped foam ball with a tail and fin structure. OddzOn Prods., Inc. v. Just Toys, Inc., 122 F.3d 1396, 1405 (Fed.Cir. 1997). We held that "[w]here a design contains both functional and non-functional elements, the scope of the claim must be construed in order to identify the non-functional aspects of the design as shown in the patent." Id.

The issue before us is not veiy different from that in OddzOn,, and we are not persuaded by Richardson's argument that our holding in Egyptian Goddess mandates a different result here. In Egyptian Goddess, we abandoned the point of novelty test for design patent infringement and held that the ordinary observer test should serve as the sole test for infringement. 543 F.3d at 679. Although we proposed that the preferable course ordinarily will be for a district court not to attempt to construe a design patent claim, id., we also emphasized that there are a number of claim scope issues on which a court's guidance would be useful to the fact finder. Id. at 680. Among them, we specifically noted, is the distinction between the functional and ornamental aspects of a design. Id. (citing OddzOn, 122 F.3d at 1405).

The district court here properly factored out the functional aspects of Richardson's design as part of its claim construction. By definition, the patented design is for a multi-function tool that has several functional components, and we have made clear that a design patent, unlike a utility patent, limits protection to the ornamental design of the article. Lee v. Dayton-Hudson Corp., 838 F.2d 1186, 1188 (Fed.Cir.1988) (citing 35 U.S.C. § 171). If the patented design is primarilyfunctional rather than ornamental, the patent is invalid. Id. However, when the design also contains ornamental aspects, it is entitled to a design patent whose scope is limited to those aspects alone and does not extend to any functional elements of the claimed article. See L.A. Gear, Inc. v. Thorn McAn Shoe Co., 988 F.2d 1117, 1123 (Fed.Cir.1993) ("The elements of the design may indeed serve a utilitarian purpose, but it is the ornamental aspect that is the basis of the design patent.").

Richardson's multi-function tool comprises several elements that are driven purely by utility. As the district court noted, elements such as the handle, the hammerhead, the jaw, and the crowbar are dictated by their functional purpose. The jaw, for example, has to be located on the opposite end of the hammer head such that the tool can be used as a step. The crowbar, by definition, needs to be on the end of the longer handle such that it can reach into narrow spaces. The handle has to be the longest arm of the tool to allow for maximum leverage. The hammer-head has to be flat on its end to effectively deliver force to the object being struck. As demonstrated by the prior art, those are purely functional elements whose utility has been known and used in the art for well over a century.

Richardson's argument that the court erred in separating out functional aspects of his design essentially is an argument for a claim scope that includes the utilitarian elements of his multi-function tool. We agree with the district court that it would indeed be improper to allow Richardson to do so. The '167 patent specifically claims "the ornamental design" for the multifunction tool shown in the drawings. See '167 patent, CI. 1. A claim to a design containing numerous functional elements, such as here, necessarily mandates a narrow construction. Nothing in our en bancEgyptian Goddess opinion compels a different outcome.

We also reject Richardson's argument that the court did not include drawings from the patent in its claim construction. Richardson argues that it is the ordinary observer's perception of those drawings that is the controlling consideration under the Supreme Court's opinion in Gorham Manufacturing Company v White, 14 Wall. 511, 81 U.S. 511, 20 L.Ed. 731 (1871). We agree with Richardson on the decisive importance of drawings in a design patent. We have recently stated that design patents are typically claimed according to their drawings, and claim construction must be adapted to a pictorial setting. Crocs, Inc. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, 598 F.3d 1294, 1302-03 (Fed.Cir. 2010). However, we do not agree that the district court's claim construction necessarily excluded drawings of the '167 patent. The court's entire construction was based on what was "shown and described...