Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Patent Law Blogs -> Patently Obvious

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Patent Law

: Patently Obvious

Court: Parties Must Justify Need for Claim Construction

By Dennis Crouch, Esq.

ADVERTISEMENTS

IP Cleaning v. Annovi Research (W.D. Wisc. 2008)

IPC has accused Annovi of infringing its patent covering a high-pressure washer. Although only a single claim is in dispute, both parties requested that the court construe several claim terms. In a recent order, however, the court denied both motions for claim construction because neither party had "persuade[d] the court that construction of each specified term is necessary to resolve a disputed issue concerning infringement or invalidity" beyond the generic statement of resolving issues of infringement and validity. According to the court, it will only resolve claim construction disputes where the parties have a "concrete dispute" that will impact the outcome.

"The reason for the order is not to require parties to parrot its language before the court construes claim terms; it is to avoid the devoting judicial resources to the issuance of advisory opinions on the construction of claim terms about which the parties have no concrete dispute. As much as the parties may hate to show their hands at this early stage, they must do so, if they hope to seek the benefit of claim construction before filing motions for summary judgment. Because the parties have disregarded the order and failed to demonstrate the basis for requesting construction of the terms they dispute, their motions requesting claim construction will be denied."

This decision is in tension with O2 Micro v. Beyond Innovation (Fed. Cir. 2008). In that case, the Federal Circuit found that the lower court had improperly refused to construe certain disputed terms. "When the parties raise an actual dispute regarding the proper scope of these claims, the court, not the jury, must resolve that dispute. . . . When the parties present a fundamental dispute regarding the scope of a claim term, it is the court's duty to resolve it." O2 Micro. The two cases may be distinguished on the ground that in IP Cleaning, the parties have not yet shown an "actual dispute regarding the proper scope" of the claims.

Full post as published by Patently Obvious on December 10, 2008 (boomark / email).