Trimed, Inc. v. Stryker Corp.
| Decision Date | 29 January 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 2007-1327.,2007-1327. |
| Citation | 514 F.3d 1256 |
| Parties | TRIMED, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STRYKER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit |
Lee F. Grossman, Grossman Law Offices, of Chicago, IL, argued for plaintiff-appellant. With him on the brief were Mark M. Grossman and Jeffrey M. Drake.
Robert A. Surette, McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd., of Chicago, IL, argued for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief were Gregory J. Vogler and Stephanie F. Pall.
Before LINN, DYK, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant TriMed, Inc. (TriMed) appeals the summary judgment of noninfringement granted in favor of defendant-appellee Stryker Corporation (Stryker) by the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Because the district court construed the relevant claim language incorrectly, we reverse.
TriMed owns U.S. Patent No. 5,931,839 ('839 patent), which pertains to an implantable device for fixing bone fractures using screws, pins, and a plate with holes on one end for receiving screws and on the opposite end for receiving pins. In one embodiment of the '839 patent, the plate is fitted across a bone fracture such that the pin holes are positioned over the fractured bone fragment and the screw holes are positioned over the stable bone fragment. The screws affix the plate to the stable bone fragment. The pins fixate the fracture by passing through the pin holes of the plate, traversing the fracture such that the pins penetrate the fractured bone fragments and embed in the stable bone fragment. Figure 5 of the '839 patent illustrates this embodiment:
NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE
Stryker manufactures and sells implantable wrist fracture fixation devices that also involve screws, pins, and plates with holes. The following x-ray depicts the implantation of one such device:
NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE
As shown, Stryker's plate has been implanted on the distal radius. Pins have been inserted distally through the fractured bone fragment at an angle into the stable bone fragment. Screws have been inserted proximally to secure the plate to the stable bone fragment.
TriMed sued Stryker, alleging that Stryker's wrist fracture fixation devices infringe the '839 patent. Claim 1, the only independent claim at issue, reads as follows:
An implantable device for fixation of at least one fractured bone fragment to a stable bone fragment, said implantable device comprising an implantable plate having opposite end portions, fastening means for securing one end portion of said plate to stable bone, at least one fixation pin for penetrating said at least one fractured bone fragment, and traversing a fracture for entering the stable bone fragment and for being secured therein at a stable fixation site at a far' end of said fixation pin, the opposite, near end of said pin being adapted for extending from the fractured bone fragment, said near end of said pin being engageable in one of a plurality of holes in the other end portion of the plate, said holes in said plate providing means for allowing the pin to slide axially therein but preventing compression across the fracture, and stabilizing said near end of the pin against displacement in the plane of the plate.
'839 Patent col.6 II.17-32 (emphasis added).
Stryker moved for summary judgment of noninfringement, asserting that the phrase, "said holes in said plate providing means for allowing the pin to slide axially therein but preventing compression across the fracture, and stabilizing said near end of the pin against displacement in the plane of the plate," is a means-plus-function limitation governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 6. Stryker argued, based upon two separate grounds, that this means-plus-function limitation is not present in the accused devices. First, according to Stryker, the language at issue requires surgeons to perform the functions of "allowing the pin to slide axially therein but preventing compression across the fracture" and "stabilizing said near end of the pin against displacement in the plane of the plate." Because, Stryker contended, its accused devices do not by themselves perform the claimed functions and that it does not supply the surgeons who may use the devices to perform the claimed functions, it cannot be held liable for infringement. Second, Stryker argued that the only corresponding structures disclosed in the specification of the '839 patent for performing the claimed functions are "bole[o] plus some other structure." As the accused devices contain holes and nothing more, Stryker asserted that it did not infringe on the '839 patent.
Adopting Stryker's proposed claim construction and signing without any modification Stryker's Rule 56 Statement of Facts and Conclusions of Law, the district court entered summary judgment of noninfringement against TriMed. TriMed timely appealed, and we have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1).
The task of determining whether the relevant claim language contains a means-plus-function limitation is, as with all claim construction issues, a question of law that we review de novo. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Techs. Inc., 138 F.3d 1448, 1455-56 (Fed.Cir.1998) (en banc). Use of the word "means" in claim language creates a presumption that § 112 ¶ 6 applies. See Greenberg v. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., 91 F.3d 1580, 1583 (Fed.Cir.1996). If, in addition to the word "means" and the functional language, the claim recites sufficient structure for performing the described functions in their entirety, the presumption of § 112 ¶ 6 is overcome—the limitation is not a means-plus-function limitation. See Lighting World, Inc. v. Birchwood Lighting, Inc., 382 F.3d 1354, 1360 (Fed. Cir.2004) (); Sage Prods., Inc. v. Devon Indus., Inc., 126 F.3d 1420, 1427-28 (Fed.Cir.1997). Sufficient structure exists when the claim language specifies the exact structure that performs the functions in question without need to resort to other portions of the specification or extrinsic evidence for an adequate understanding of the structure. See Altiris, Inc. v. Symantec Corp., 318 F.3d 1363, 1376 (Fed.Cir.2003); see also Envirco Corp. v. Clestra Cleanroom, Inc., 209 F.3d 1360, 1365 (Fed.Cir.2000) ().
The district court erred in concluding that the language at issue in claim 1 was means-plus-function language that invoked § 112 ¶ 6. To be sure, the claim discloses functions for the holes—allowing a pin to slide axially through the pin plate while preventing compression across the bone fracture, and stabilizing the exposed end of the pin against displacement in the plane of the plate. As our precedent makes clear, the presence of the word "means" and the articulation of a function is not the end of the inquiry. Just as clearly, the claim articulates the structure for performing the claimed functions—the holes. The functional language defines the size and shape of the claimed holes. The interior of the holes must be shaped to allow pins to slide through axially while the boundaries of the holes must be sized appropriately to hold the pins in place and limit their movement across the plane of the plate. The claim language makes clear that the structure for performing these functions is the holes themselves.
Since the claim language clearly identifies the structure for performing the functions in claim 1, it was unnecessary and inappropriate for the court to employ § 112 ¶ 6 and to hold that there must be a structure in addition to the holes (such as a slot) for performing these functions. Even if we were to construe this as a § 112 ¶ 6 claim, the specification discloses an embodiment that has precisely the same structure that is found in the accused devices. The specification states: "In one embodiment the...
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