Tate Access Floors v. Interface Archit. Resources

• Decision Date: 07 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-1275.,01-1275.
• Citation: 279 F.3d 1357
• Parties: TATE ACCESS FLOORS, INC. and Tate Access Floors Leasing, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. INTERFACE ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES, INC., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

279 F.3d 1357

TATE ACCESS FLOORS, INC. and Tate Access Floors Leasing, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. INTERFACE ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES, INC., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 01-1275.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

February 7, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Darle M. Short, Oliff & Berridge, PLC, of Alexandria, VA, argued for plaintiffs-appellees. With him on the brief were James A. Oliff, Thomas J. Pardini, and Julie E. Zink.

Mitchell G. Stockwell, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, of Atlanta, GA, argued for defendant-appellant. With him on the brief were John S. Pratt, Michael J. Turton, and Heather C. Gorman.

Before GAJARSA, Circuit Judge, PLAGER, Senior Circuit Judge, and DYK, Circuit Judge.

GAJARSA, Circuit Judge.

The Defendant-Appellant, Interface Architectural Resources, Inc. ("Interface"), seeks review of a final judgment by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granting a motion by the Plaintiff-Appellees, Tate Access Floors, Inc. and Tate Access Floors Leasing, Inc. (together "Tate") to preliminarily enjoin Interface from infringing claims 1-4 and 8-10 of United States Patent No. 4,625,491 (the "'491 patent"). Interface contends that the district court erred by granting the preliminary injunction because Tate failed to make the requisite showing of a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of its infringement claim. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The '491 Patent

Tate owns the '491 patent, which pertains to raised access flooring panels. '491 patent, col. 1, ll. 6-9. Raised access flooring panels provide an elevated floor under which materials such as cables and pipes can be run. Id. at col. 1, ll. 15-19. The panels rest on pedestals. They are placed side-by-side to form an elevated floor. By lifting and removing certain panels, one can access the materials underneath the floor. Id. at col. 1, ll. 30-32.

The panels addressed in the '491 patent have a laminated top surface. Id. at col. 1, ll. 57-63. The transparent laminate protects and covers a decorative top surface. Id. These decorative panels are formed by heat bonding a decorative top layer onto a number of layers of underlying kraft paper using resin. Id. The resulting edges of the laminated panels are brittle; without protection they chip, crack, and appear aesthetically unpleasing.

Prior to the claimed invention, the industry employed an add-on trim strip to protect the edges of the panels and to make them look better. Id. at col. 1, ll. 33-36. Such trim was problematic because it increased the cost of panels, and tended to crack and become loose, and to collect dirt and moisture. Id. at col. 1, ll. 42-46. The '491 patent addresses the problems associated with the edges of the panels without employing an add-on trim strip.

Instead of adding trim, the '491 patent solves the problem of brittle edges by removing the top decorative layer from the periphery of the panels to form an integral trim edge. Id. at col. 1, l. 67 to col. 2, l. 4. The two independent claims at issue, claims 1 and 8, read as follows:

1. A floor panel for elevated floors comprising a rectangular base structure adapted to be supported at its corners and providing a load surface operable to support loads thereon, a floor covering mounted on said load surface providing a decorative exposed surface layer on the side thereof opposite said load surface, said floor covering providing an inner body portion having an appearance contrasting with the appearance of said decorative surface layer, said floor covering providing a border along the edges of said panels along which said decorative surface layer is removed to expose said inner body portion and thereby provide an integral contrasting border around said decorative surface layer.

8. A floor panel comprising a rectangular support structure providing a load surface operable to support loads thereon, a layered laminated floor covering mounted on said load surface providing a single visible decorative layer along the side of said floor covering also providing an inner layer contrasting with said decorative layer having a thickness substantially greater than the thickness of the decorative layer adjacent to said decorative layer along the side thereof facing said load surface, said floor covering providing a border extending along the edges of said panel along which the decorative layer is removed to expose said inner layer.

Id. at col. 4, l. 67 to col. 5, l. 11 and col. 5, l. 37 to col. 6, l. 11 (emphasis added).

The specification includes figures depicting an embodiment of the claimed floor panels. The periphery of the panels has a sloping, or beveled portion, as well as a flat, horizontal portion. For example, Figure 4 of the '491 patent depicts a panel with edges that appear as follows:

B. The Accused Product

Interface's accused floor panels have a decorative top layer with a beveled edge, but no horizontal, single-layered portion. An example of the accused panels follows.

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

Interface contends that its panels fall outside the scope of the asserted claims of the '491 patent, as properly construed, by virtue of their simple beveled edges. It argues that the "border" limitations of claims 1 and 8 encompass only the horizontal portion depicted in Figure 4 of the '491 patent. Because Interface's panels lack a horizontal portion formed of a single layer of material, and contain only a beveled edge, Interface maintains that its panels do not infringe. Tate contends that panels with beveled edges meet the "border" limitations notwithstanding the absence of a horizontal portion formed of a single layer of material.

C. The District Court's Grant of Preliminary Injunction

The district court properly noted that pursuant to this court's precedent interpreting 35 U.S.C. § 283, Tate's entitlement to a preliminary injunction hinged on proof regarding four factors: (1) likely success on the merits, including proof of infringement and lack of a substantial question regarding Interface's invalidity defense; (2) irreparable harm absent an injunction; (3) that the balance of hardships favors granting the injunction; and (4) that public policy favors granting the injunction. Tate Access Floors, Inc. v. Interface Architectural Res., Inc., 132 F.Supp.2d 365, 370 (D.Md.2001) (citing T.J. Smith & Nephew Ltd. v. Consol. Med. Equip., Inc., 821 F.2d 646, 647, 3 USPQ2d 1316, 1317 (Fed.Cir.1987)); see also Hybritech Inc. v. Abbott Labs., 849 F.2d 1446, 1451, 7 USPQ2d 1191, 1195 (Fed.Cir.1988). After finding that Tate had established each of the four factors, the district court granted the preliminary injunction. Tate, 132 F.Supp.2d at 379.

On the first factor, likely success on the merits, the district court found that Tate established likely success on both validity and infringement. Tate, 132 F.Supp.2d at 370-75. In its validity analysis, the district court noted that patents are presumed valid pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 282, and that the '491 patent withstood a validity challenge based on inventorship in prior litigation. Tate, 132 F.Supp.2d at 371 (citing Tate Access Floors, Inc. v. Maxcess Techs., 222 F.3d 958, 55 USPQ2d 1513 (Fed.Cir.2000) (affirming jury verdict finding '491 patent infringed and not invalid)). The district court then independently rejected Interface's obviousness argument. It found that prior art textbooks taught beveling the edges of laminate in other contexts, but that ordinary skill in the art of making floor panels excluded making decorative beveled borders. Tate, 132 F.Supp.2d at 371-72. The district court also considered secondary factors of nonobviousness: "the omnipresence of relatively expensive added trims in the market before the issuance of Tate's patent," and the commercial success of Tate's embodiment of the patent. Id. at 372. Prior to concluding its determination that Tate proved likely success on the merits regarding validity, the district court stated:

The remaining evidence of obviousness, under factors 1 and 3, involves the prior art in floor panels. Whether Interface is practicing the prior art constitutes an affirmative defense to infringement. Fiskars, Inc. v. Hunt Mfg. Co., 221 F.3d 1318, 1323 (Fed.Cir.2000). I address this issue in discussing infringement.

Id.

The district court next determined that Tate had proved likely success on its infringement claim. Id. at 372-75. It noted, properly, that infringement analysis proceeds in two steps: 1) claim construction, which begins with an assessment of the intrinsic evidence and considers extrinsic evidence only if the intrinsic evidence is unclear, and then 2) comparison of the accused device to the construed claims. Id. at 372.

Interface asserted that the term "border" in independent claims 1 and 8 must be construed to mean a "recessed horizontal border formed of a single layer." Id. Under this construction, Interface's panels would not infringe; their edges lack a horizontal layer, and are formed only of a multi-layered bevel. Interface also argued that the '491 patent could not be reasonably construed to cover its accused device. Id.

The district court rejected Interface's claim construction. It noted that it was bound to presume the claim terms "mean what they say," to accord them their ordinary and accustomed meaning, and to turn to extrinsic evidence only if the intrinsic evidence is unclear. Id. (quoting Johnson Worldwide Assocs. v. Zebco Corp., 175 F.3d 985, 989, 50 USPQ2d 1607, 1610-11 (Fed.Cir.1999)). It then held that nothing in the language of the claims, this court's claim construction in Tate Access, the specification, or the prosecution history of the '491 patent limits the claimed "border" to a horizontal, single layer. Id. at 372-74. It concluded that the accused panel's edge is lower and decorative, and...