Thorner v. Sony Computer Ent. America LLC

• Decision Date: 01 February 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2011–1114.,2011–1114.
• Citation: 669 F.3d 1362,101 U.S.P.Q.2d 1457
• Parties: Craig THORNER and, Virtual Reality Feedback Corporation, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony Electronics Inc., and Riley Russell, Defendants–Appellees,andGregory S. Gewirtz, Lerner David Littenberg Krumholtz & Mentlik, LLP, Larry C. Russ, Marc A. Fenster, and Russ August & Kabat, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

101 U.S.P.Q.2d 1457

669 F.3d 1362

Craig THORNER and, Virtual Reality Feedback Corporation, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony Electronics Inc., and Riley Russell, Defendants–Appellees,andGregory S. Gewirtz, Lerner David Littenberg Krumholtz & Mentlik, LLP, Larry C. Russ, Marc A. Fenster, and Russ August & Kabat, Defendants.

No. 2011–1114.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

Feb. 1, 2012.

Matthew G. McAndrews, Niro, Haller & Niro, of Chicago, IL, argued for plaintiffs- appellants. With him on the brief was Raymond P. Niro, Jr.

Daniel Johnson, Jr., Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, of San Francisco, CA, argued for defendants-appellees.

Before RADER, Chief Judge, MOORE, Circuit Judge and AIKEN, District Judge.^*MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Craig Thorner and Virtual Reality Feedback Corporation (Appellants, collectively) accused Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC and a number of other Sony entities (Sony, collectively) of infringing claims of U.S. patent no. 6,422,941 ('941 patent) relating to a tactile feedback system for computer video games. The district court construed disputed claim terms and the parties stipulated to a judgment of noninfringement. Because the district court improperly limited the term “attached to said pad” to mean attachment only to an external surface and erred in its construction of the term “flexible”, we vacate and remand.

Background

The '941 patent describes a tactile feedback system for use with video games. Figure 2 shows the many different embodiments of the invention:

Image 1 (3.93" X 2.82") Available for Offline Print

Tactile feedback controller 110 is part of a larger gaming system that operates one or more of the devices shown above. Each device includes some type of actuator that provides tactile feedback to a user in response to certain game activities. '941 patent col.2 ll.44–52. For instance, the actuators in hand-held game controller 598 may vibrate during a crash in a car racing game. Independent claim 1 requires “a flexible pad,” “a plurality of actuators attached to said pad” and a control circuit that activates the actuators in response to game activity. The accused products are hand-held game controllers.

Two claim limitations are relevant to this appeal, “flexible pad” and “attached to said pad.” The district court held that flexible does not mean simply “capable of being flexed.” Thorner v. Sony Computer Entm't Am. LLC, No. 09–cv–1894, 2010 WL 3811283, at *3 (D.N.J. Sept. 23, 2010). It reasoned that this definition was inappropriate because “[m]any objects that are capable of being flexed are not flexible. A steel I-beam is capable of being flexed, but no one would call it ‘flexible.’ ” Id. The court thus construed the term to mean “capable of being noticeably flexed with ease.” Id.

The district court then turned to the construction of “attached to said pad.” Id. at *5–7. Appellants argued that attached should be given its plain and ordinary meaning and that an actuator can be attached to the inside of an object. Sony argued that “attached to said pad” should be construed as affixed to the exterior surface of the pad and does not include embedded within said pad. The court held that “the specification redefines ‘attached’ by implication.” Id. at *6. The court held that the word attached was limited to attached to the outside of an object because the embodiments in the specification consistently use the term “attached” to indicate affixing an actuator to the outer surface of an object and use the word “embedded” when referring to an actuator inside an object. For additional support for the notion that attached and embedded have different meanings, the court pointed to claim 1 which uses the word “attached” and dependent claim 10 which uses the word “embedded.” Id.

Following claim construction, the parties stipulated to noninfringement by the accused products. They stated that “under the Court's construction of the phrase ‘attached to said pad,’ Defendants have not infringed....” The stipulation further stated that the “parties reserve their rights to challenge this or any other construction of the disputed claim phrases of the '941 patent on appeal.” J.A. 14–15. We have jurisdiction over this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1).

Discussion

We review claim construction de novo. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs., Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1455–56 (Fed.Cir.1998) (en banc). The words of a claim are generally given their ordinary and customary meaning as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art when read in the context of the specification and prosecution history. See Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1313 (Fed.Cir.2005) (en banc). There are only two exceptions to this general rule: 1) when a patentee sets out a definition and acts as his own lexicographer, or 2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of a claim term either in the specification or during prosecution. Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1580 (Fed.Cir.1996). The use of the term “attached” in this specification does not meet either of these exceptions.

To act as its own lexicographer, a patentee must “clearly set forth a definition of the disputed claim term” other than its plain and ordinary meaning. CCS Fitness, Inc. v. Brunswick Corp., 288 F.3d 1359, 1366 (Fed.Cir.2002). It is not enough for a patentee to simply disclose a single embodiment or use a word in the same manner in all embodiments, the patentee must “clearly express an intent” to redefine the term. Helmsderfer v. Bobrick Washroom Equip., Inc., 527 F.3d 1379, 1381 (Fed.Cir.2008); see also Kara Tech. Inc. v. Stamps.com, 582 F.3d 1341, 1347–48 (Fed.Cir.2009). “[T]he inventor's written description of the invention, for example, is relevant and controlling insofar as it provides clear lexicography ...” C.R. Bard, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 388 F.3d 858, 862 (Fed.Cir.2004) (emphasis added). For example, in 3M Innovative Properties Co. v. Avery Dennison Corp., we held that the patentee acted as its own lexicographer when the specification stated: “ ‘Multiple embossed’ means two or more embossing patterns are superimposed on the web to create a complex pattern of differing depths of embossing.” 350 F.3d 1365, 1369, 1371 (Fed.Cir.2004). Similarly, we limited a patentee to particular examples of solubilizers when it stated in the specification that “[t]he solubilizers suitable according to the invention are defined below.” Astrazeneca AB v. Mutual Pharm. Co., 384 F.3d 1333, 1339 (Fed.Cir.2004).

The standard for disavowal of claim scope is similarly exacting. “Where the specification makes clear that the invention does not include a particular feature, that feature is deemed to be outside the reach of the claims of the patent, even though the language of the claims, read without reference to the specification, might be considered broad enough to encompass the feature in question.” SciMed Life Sys., Inc. v. Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc., 242 F.3d 1337, 1341 (Fed.Cir.2001). “The patentee may demonstrate intent to deviate from the ordinary and accustomed meaning of a claim term by including in the specification expressions of manifest exclusion or restriction, representing a clear disavowal of claim scope.” Teleflex, Inc. v. Ficosa N. Am. Corp., 299 F.3d 1313, 1325 (Fed.Cir.2002); see also Home Diagnostics, Inc. v. LifeScan, Inc., 381 F.3d 1352, 1358 (Fed.Cir.2004) ( “Absent a clear disavowal in the specification or the prosecution history, the patentee is entitled to the full scope of its claim language.”). For example, in SciMed, the patentee described two different types of catheters in the prior art, those with dual lumens (side-by-side) and those with coaxial lumens. 242 F.3d at 1339. In discussing the prior art, the patentee disparaged the dual lumen configuration as larger than necessary and less pliable than the coaxial type. Id. at 1342. Further, the specification repeatedly described the “present invention” as a coaxial design. Id. Finally, the specification stated: “The intermediate sleeve structure defined above [coaxial design] is the basic sleeve structure for all embodiments of the present invention contemplated and disclosed herein.” Id. at 1343 (emphasis in original). This court held that collectively this amounted to disavowal of the dual lumen design.

Mere criticism of a particular embodiment encompassed in the plain meaning of a claim term is not sufficient to rise to the level of clear disavowal. Epistar Corp. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, 566 F.3d 1321, 1335 (Fed.Cir.2009) (holding that even a direct criticism of a particular technique did not rise to the level of clear disavowal). In Spine Solutions, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek USA, Inc., we explained that even where a particular structure makes it “particularly difficult” to obtain certain benefits of the claimed invention, this does not rise to the level of disavowal of the structure. 620 F.3d 1305, 1315 (Fed.Cir.2010). It is likewise not enough that the only embodiments, or all of the embodiments, contain a particular limitation. We do not read limitations from the specification into claims; we do not redefine words. Only the patentee can do that. To constitute disclaimer, there must be a clear and unmistakable disclaimer.

It is the claims that define the metes and bounds of the patentee's invention. Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1313. The patentee is free to choose a broad term and expect to obtain the full scope of its plain and ordinary meaning unless the patentee explicitly redefines the term or disavows its full scope.

Claim 1 of the patent at issue includes the disputed claim terms:

In a computer or video game system, apparatus for providing, in response to signals generated by said computer or video game system, a tactile sensation to a user of said computer or video game system, said apparatus comprising:

a flexible pad;

a plurality of actuators, attached to...