A.C. Aukerman Co. v. Jasper Construction Co.

615 F. Supp. 133, 226 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22355
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedFebruary 22, 1985
DocketNo. C84-1208A
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 615 F. Supp. 133 (A.C. Aukerman Co. v. Jasper Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.C. Aukerman Co. v. Jasper Construction Co., 615 F. Supp. 133, 226 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22355 (N.D. Ga. 1985).

Opinion

ORDER OF COURT

MOYE, Chief Judge.

The above-styled action is again before this Court on the defendant’s motion for summary judgment.1 A review of the procedural background of this case is necessary to resolve the present motion.

FACTS

The plaintiff is in the business of building interstate highway median barrier wall by a process called slip forming. These barriers are designed so that a vehicle striking the wall will stay under control. The height of the contoured surface of the wall above the highway is an important factor in designing a safe barrier wall. Plaintiff’s Supp. Brief at 2. If a barrier wall is the same height on each side, it is known as a “symmetrical wall.” If the contours on opposite sides of the wall are at different heights, the wall is called “asymmetrical.” Id. Until 1971, it was not [134]*134possible to slip form asymmetrical barrier wall. Id. at 3.

In 1971, a friend of the plaintiffs developed a method to slip form asymmetrical barrier wall. Subsequently, both the method of slip forming asymmetrical barrier wall (patent # 133) and the invention itself (patent # 633) were patented by the plaintiff. Id. at 4.

In the fall of 1972, the plaintiff discovered that Miller Formless Co. was manufacturing and selling a slip form capable of erecting asymmetrical barrier wall. After several years of unsuccessful negotiations with Miller Formless, the plaintiff filed an infringement action in federal court in Illinois. The Illinois court granted Miller Formless’ motion for summary judgment on the grounds of laches and estoppel, and that decision was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in A.C. Aukerman Co. v. Miller Formless Co., Inc., 693 F.2d 697 (7th Cir.1982).

On November 9, 1984, this Court held that the Illinois judgment was a “judgment on the merits” for res judicata purposes. In addition, this Court found that under res judicata, and under the Kessler doctrine first articulated in Kessler v. Eldred, 206 U.S. 285, 27 S.Ct. 611, 51 L.Ed. 1065 (1907), the defendant in this case, a company that had purchased from Miller Formless a slip form capable of making asymmetrical barrier wall, was protected by the Illinois judgment. The Court deferred the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, however, because the plaintiff alleged that, upon further discovery, it could show that this lawsuit involves a different cause of action than the Illinois lawsuit. It is this issue that is presently before the Court.2

Discussion

The plaintiff advances four arguments in support of its contention that this lawsuit is different than the Illinois suit, and is therefore not barred by res judicata or the Kessler doctrine.3 The plaintiff first states that this lawsuit is based on infringing use whereas the Illinois suit was based on infringing manufacture. Second, the plaintiff stresses that the defendant in this action has independently decided to infringe the plaintiff’s patent and is therefore not entitled to the protection of the Illinois lawsuit. Third, the plaintiff contends that the defendant is using a different type of slip form than that used by Miller Formless. Finally, the plaintiff argues that the defendant is not protected by the Illinois judgment because it has incorporated the patented slip form into a “larger system.” As will be discussed below, this Court finds that none of these arguments has any merit.

I. Use v. Manufacture

The plaintiff’s first argument is that the previous Illinois judgment does not protect the defendant in this case because that judgment was based on manufacturing the allegedly infringing device whereas this lawsuit concerns the use of that device. This argument has no merit for two reasons. First, contrary to the plaintiff’s assertions, the previous lawsuit did concern the allegedly infringing use of the plaintiff’s patented slip form. The Court in Aukerman, supra, stated the following:

Appellant [Aukerman] cannot escape so easily because this suit essentially concerns the first patent which covers the method of plaintiffs invention____ In the license negotiations between the parties ... plaintiff viewed the invention as both apparatus and method and defendant’s alleged intrusion as a single intrusion.

[135]*135Aukerman, supra, at 700 n. 4. Thus, it is clear that infringing use was a part of the Illinois lawsuit.

The plaintiff’s independent use argument also fails in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Kessler v. Eldred, 206 U.S. 285, 27 S.Ct. 611, 51 L.Ed. 1065 (1907), as interpreted by subsequent case law, which held that the customers of a manufacturer who had previously prevailed in a patent infringement lawsuit were protected by that lawsuit if they bought the completed accused device from the manufacturer. Id. at 286-87, 27 S.Ct. at 611-12. Molinaro v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 460 F.Supp. 673 (E.D.Pa.1978), aff’d without published opinion, 620 F.2d 288 (3d Cir. 1980). Therefore, since the defendant in this case purchased the completed slip form from the manufacturer which had previously prevailed in the Illinois lawsuit, the defendant is fully protected by that lawsuit.

II. Independent Use

The plaintiff argues that this lawsuit is different than the Illinois lawsuit because the defendant in this case has independently decided to use the accused device in an infringing manner. The plaintiff discusses at length the fact that the slip form in question can be used either in an infringing or non-infringing manner depending on whether it is used to make asymmetrical or symmetrical barrier wall. According to the plaintiff, because the defendant has decided to use the slip form to make asymmetrical barrier wall, it has independently decided to infringe the plaintiff’s patent and is not protected by the Illinois judgment.

The plaintiff cites only two cases to support this novel argument and neither case supports the plaintiff’s position. In Rubber Tire Wheel Co. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 232 U.S. 413, 34 S.Ct. 403, 58 L.Ed. 663 (1914), a person purchased one component from a manufacturer who had previously prevailed in a patent suit and combined that one component with two other components, purchased from third parties, to manufacture an allegedly infringing device. The Supreme Court held that the original manufacturer could not enjoin a suit by the patentee against the customer. Id. at 416, 34 S.Ct. at 404. The Court, however, specifically distinguished the facts of Rubber Tire Wheel from other cases - where the alleged infringer had bought the entire device from the manufacturer. The Court stated the following:

We may lay on one side the question as to the rights of one purchasing from the [manufacturer] the completed article.

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Related

Aukerman Co. v. Jasper Const. Co
795 F.2d 1015 (Federal Circuit, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
615 F. Supp. 133, 226 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ac-aukerman-co-v-jasper-construction-co-gand-1985.