Black & Decker, Inc. v. North American Philips Corp.

632 F. Supp. 185, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30004
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJanuary 27, 1986
DocketB-84-751 (TFGD)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 632 F. Supp. 185 (Black & Decker, Inc. v. North American Philips Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Black & Decker, Inc. v. North American Philips Corp., 632 F. Supp. 185, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30004 (D. Conn. 1986).

Opinion

ORDER

DALY, Chief Judge.

After review and over objection, the ruling of the Magistrate is hereby ADOPTED and RATIFIED in its entirety.

After review and absent objection, the ruling of the Magistrate is hereby ADOPTED, APPROVED and RATIFIED. The Court finds that the additional affidavits submitted by plaintiffs do not provide a basis for reversal or modification of the ruling granting defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment adopted, approved and ratified by the Court today.

RECOMMENDED RULING GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

July 24, 1985

JOAN GLAZER MARGOLIS, United States Magistrate.

On February 13, 1984, plaintiffs Black & Decker, Inc. and Black & Decker (U.S.), Inc. (“Black & Decker” or “plaintiffs”) filed this patent and trademark infringement suit against defendant North American Philips Corporation (“NAPC,” “Norelco” or “defendant”) in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Upon NAPC’s motion for change of venue, the Utah court ordered the action transfer *189 red to this district, in which NAPC has its executive offices and manufacturing plants.

Black & Decker’s Second Amended Complaint, filed February 5, 1985, alleges three causes of action: Count I is for infringement of Design Pat. No. 257,661 (’661 patent), issued on December 28, 1980, and infringement of mechanical Patent No. 4,209,875 (’875 patent), issued July 1, 1980; Count II raises a claim for unfair competition under state law pendent to the claim for patent infringement (Count I) and trademark infringement (Count III), in that plaintiffs allege that defendant’s portable rechargeable vacuum cleaner, NORELCO CLEAN UP MACHINE, substantially embodies the appearance of Black & Decker’s DUSTBUSTER vacuum cleaner, that defendant has usurped the good will and exploited the advertising and promotion of plaintiffs’ DUSTBUSTER vacuum cleaner, and that the defendant has copied plaintiffs’ trade dress and intends to pass off the Norelco vacuum cleaners as those of plaintiffs; Count III claims that defendant’s activities constitute “false description or representation and false designation as to origin and are likely to cause confusion” and deceive buyers as to the origin and quality of defendant’s machines.

In its Answer, filed February 27, 1985, NAPC denies having infringed Black & Decker’s patents and has asserted counterclaims which seek to invalidate the ’661 and ’875 patents, inter alia, for lack of patentable invention over the prior art, and to invalidate the trademark covering the design of the DUSTBUSTER portable vacuum cleaner.

Defendant has moved for partial summary judgment on Count I, in that the design of its NORELCO CLEAN UP MACHINE, sold under the Norelco trademark, does not infringe the plaintiffs’ design patent ’661, and on Counts II and III for trademark infringement and unfair competition. This motion for summary judgment does not attack plaintiffs’ action for infringement of the ’875 mechanical patent.

For the reasons stated herein, defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment is granted.

I. STANDARDS FOR GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that summary judgment be entered whenever the evidence presented indicates that no genuine issue of fact exists and that the moving party is entitled to the judgment as a matter of law. Summary judgment is “without question intended to be effectuated in patent litigation as in any other type of suit and in accordance with the same standards.” Union Carbide Corp. v. American Can Co., 724 F.2d 1567, 1571 (Fed.Cir.1984). Although the court must decide the issue in favor of the non-moving party if it has any doubts about the existence of material facts; summary judgment is proper when no “significant probative evidence [exists] tending to support the complaint.” Peterson Mfg. Co. v. Central Purchasing, Inc., 740 F.2d 1541, 1551 (Fed.Cir.1984). See also Scovill, Inc. v. Dynamics Corp. of America, Civil No. B-81-149, slip op. at 2-4 (D.Conn. Mar. 18, 1985).

The Court, mindful of the heavy burden borne by defendant in this motion, nevertheless rules that no evidence has been presented to show that a genuine issue of fact exists and that defendant is entitled as a matter of law to partial summary judgment. The Court finds that the defendant has infringed neither the plaintiffs’ design patent ’661 nor the DUSTBUSTER trademark.

II. ’661 PATENT . INFRINGEMENT CLAIM

A. The Gorham “Eye” Test

The accepted test of infringement of a patent design is the “eye” test, articulated in Gorham Co. v. White, 81 U.S. (14 Wall) 511, 528, 20 L.Ed. 731 (1871):

[I]f in the eye of an ordinary observer, giving such attention as a purchaser usually gives, two designs are substan *190 tially the same, if the resemblance is such as to deceive such an observer, inducing him to purchase one supposing it to be the other, the first one patented is infringed by the other.

The Court has applied the test to the two products in issue, plaintiffs’ DUSTBUSTER vacuum cleaner (Defendant’s Exhibit 10), covered by the ’661 patent, and defendant’s accused structures, the NORELCO CLEAN UP MACHINE (Defendant's Exhibit 14). Based upon this physical inspection, the Court concludes that the overall appearance of the plaintiffs’ DUSTBUSTER and defendant’s CLEAN UP MACHINE are substantially different, so that there is no patent infringement.

There are many physical differences between the two products, the most obvious of which is the shape of their respective handles. The Norelco machine has a large closed-loop design, shaped like a parallelogram, whereas the handle of the Black & Decker machine appears as an extension of the dustbowl and extends rearward. Other obvious distinctions between the two machines include the air vents and the on/off buttons. The vents in the Norelco design are plain lateral slats located on the vertical sides of the housing in front of the handle; the air vents of the Black & Decker patented design extend around the sides and top of the housing. The on/off button of the Norelco machine operates like a trigger and is located inside the loop of the handle, whereas the on/off button of the patented design is located on top of the handle member.

In addition to the differences in the handles, the vents, and the on/off buttons of the machines, the contours of the two products are distinctive. The bottom contours are different because of the different handle designs. The top line profile of the Norelco machine is a slight curved diagonal. The top line profile of the DUSTBUSTER profile resembles an open inverted V.

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Bluebook (online)
632 F. Supp. 185, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/black-decker-inc-v-north-american-philips-corp-ctd-1986.