Searfoss v. Pioneer Consol. Corp.

• Citation: 374 F.3d 1142
• Decision Date: 06 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1606.,03-1606.
• Parties: Marlane C. SEARFOSS and Timothy K. Searfoss, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PIONEER CONSOLIDATED CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

374 F.3d 1142

Marlane C. SEARFOSS and Timothy K. Searfoss, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PIONEER CONSOLIDATED CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 03-1606.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

July 6, 2004.

John A. Artz, Artz & Artz, of Southfield, MI, argued for plaintiffs-appellants. Of counsel were John S. Artz and Robert P. Renke.

Thomas E. Bejin, Young & Basile, P.C., of Troy, MI, argued for defendant-appellee. Of counsel on the brief was Thomas N. Young.

Before NEWMAN, MICHEL, and SCHALL, Circuit Judges.

MICHEL, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs-Appellants Marlane and Timothy Searfoss (collectively "Searfoss") appeal from an order granting summary judgment of non-infringement to Pioneer Consolidated Corporation ("Pioneer") based on a finding that no reasonable jury could find that Pioneer's accused products infringe the claims of United States Patent No. 5,031,955 ("the '955 patent") under the doctrine of equivalents, the sole type of infringement asserted. Searfoss v. Pioneer Consol. Corp., No. 99-CV-76394-DT (E.D.Mich. Aug. 6, 2003) ("Summary Judgment Order"). Because we find that the district court did not err in either its construction of the disputed claim terms or its resulting finding of non-infringement as a matter of law under the doctrine of equivalents, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

On June 4, 1999, Searfoss filed suit against Pioneer for the alleged infringement of the '955 patent through its sale of moveable cover systems for truck beds. The '955 patent relates to:

A truck cover is provided [that] includes a flexible cover for selectively covering and uncovering the load bed of a truck. A winding assembly is mounted on the front end of the load bed and includes a reel for winding a flexible cover. A motor drives the reel through a worm drive. An extension assembly is provided which includes a pivoted rear bail connected to the rear and [sic] of the cover and a spring bias assembly which pivots the bail to the rear of the truck so as to extend the cover over the bed. A tension assembly is provided which utilizes a tension bail over the front of the cover having legs which are attached to the rear bail so the tension bail is lowered onto the front of the cover as the rear bail unwinds the cover from the winding assembly. Each leg of the rear bail is secured to the load bed through an offset pivot through which bias forces are transmitted when the cover is wound on the winding assembly to reduce strain on the winding assembly motor.

'955 patent, Abstract. The claimed invention of the '955 patent was aimed at solving two problems in the truck bed cover art: (1) ease of use and (2) a gap between the side of the truck bed and the cover proximate to the front of the truck (near the cab) that allowed wind to blow under the cover and disturb particles or items in the truck bed. The claimed invention sought to resolve these problems by providing a truck cover that may be "conveniently motor operated from the cab of a truck while simultaneously extending the cover over the truck bed and pressing down on the front of the cover proximate a winding assembly which winds up the cover at the front of the truck bed." Id. at col. 1, ll. 23-29. A diagram of a preferred embodiment is set out below:

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

Searfoss argues that Pioneer infringes claim 3 of the '955 patent, which reads:

A cover assembly for covering a vehicle load bed defined by first and second ends and first and second sides, said cover assembly comprising, in combination, a flexible cover; a winding assembly for winding and storing said cover so as to uncover said load bed, said winding assembly including a reel proximate said first load bed end and winding means for winding said cover on said reel; an extension assembly for extending said cover over said load bed, said extension assembly including an extension bail, said extension bail including a cover support section substantially extending across said load bed and first and second legs, each of said extension bail legs being connected to said cover support section and respectively extending downwardly to said first and second sides of said load bed, extension bail attachment means for attaching each of said extension bail legs to said load bed sides, and bias means for biasing said extension bail cover support section toward said second load bed end so as to extend said cover over said load bed; and a tension bail assembly for pressing downwardly on said cover proximate said first load bed end, said tension bail assembly including a center section substantially extending across said load bed and first and second legs, said first and second tension bail legs each having one end connected to said tension bail center section and another end respectively extending downwardly to said first and second sides of said load bed, and actuation means for connecting said tension bail to said extension assembly and applying a downward force through said tension bail center section to said cover, said actuation means including first and second pivot connections respectively between said first and second tension bail legs and a midpoint on said respective first and second extension bail legs so as to selectively apply said downward force on said cover proximate said load bed first end while said cover is extended over said load bed by said extension assembly by lowering said tension bail onto said cover while said cover is being extended over said load bed whereby said load bed is selectively covered by said extension assembly pulling said cover off said reel so as to extend said cover over said load bed toward said second load bed end while said tension bail assembly applies said downward force on said cover over said load bed proximate said first load bed end and said load bed is selectively uncovered by said winding assembly winding said cover onto said reel while said tension bail assembly downward force is substantially reduced on said cover proximate said first load bed end.

Id. at col. 6, l. 28 — col. 7, l. 8 (emphases added). Though Searfoss concedes that Pioneer does not infringe the '955 patent literally, Searfoss alleges infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. A diagram of the accused product is set out below:¹

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On September 13, 2002, the district court issued its Markman Order construing claim 3 of the '955 patent. Searfoss v. Pioneer Consol. Corp., No. 99-CV-76394-DT (E.D.Mich. Sept. 13, 2002) ("Markman Order"). Though the district court construed each limitation of the claim, its written decision focused on the term "actuation means for connecting said tension bail to said extension assembly and applying a downward force through said tension bail center section to said cover." The district court held the term to be a means-plus-function limitation under section 112(6), with two claimed functions: (1) to connect the tension bail and extension assembly; and (2) to apply a downward force through the tension bail to the cover. Markman Order at 6.

With respect to the first function, the parties debated whether the term "connecting" required a direct connection or could include a tangential connection, such as through the cover. Searfoss argued that an indirect connection is still a "connection" while Pioneer argued that "connect" requires a direct pivotal connection. In support of its contention, Searfoss cited to dictionary definitions of "connect." The court held that, as used in claim 3, the term "connecting" requires a direct pivotal connection between the tension bail and the extension assembly, such that, in the context of claim 3, "connecting" is synonymous with "attaching." Id. at 7. The court further held that the actuation means could not include the cover because one function of the actuation means is to apply downward force to the cover and a construction of actuation means to include cover would be "nonsensical." Id. at 6-7.

With regard to the second function, Pioneer asserted that the downward force applied through the tension bail is substantially reduced as the cover is being wound onto the reel, and that to achieve this, a direct pivotal connection between the tension bail and the extension assembly is necessary to decrease the force upon rewinding. Searfoss argued that the downward force is nothing but gravity, and that no direct connection is required to achieve this downward force. Searfoss also argued that the reduction in force need not occur upon rewinding; instead, all that is required is that the force on the cover needs to be substantially reduced when the bed is in an uncovered state, as opposed to when the bed is covered. The district court held that, based on the language of the claim, a direct pivotal connection is necessary to perform the second function of the actuation means. Id. at 9. Though the district court agreed with Searfoss that gravity supplies the downward force (and noted that no other explanation was plausible), the district court held that because the actuation means is described in relation to its function of applying a downward force through the tension ball onto the cover, there must be some relation between the actuation means and the downward force. Id.

The court found further support for this interpretation in the final section of the claim ("said load bed is selectively uncovered by said winding assembly winding said cover onto said reel while said tension bail assembly downward force is substantially reduced on said cover proximate said first load bed end") because it found the "winding ... while" language to indicate that the downward force is substantially reduced at the same time the cover is winding back onto its reel. Id. The court found that the direct pivotal connections between the tension bail and the extension assembly are what makes this possible — as the cover is wound onto the reel, the...