Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 1 Filed: 12/17/2020
NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC., Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Defendant-Appellant ______________________
2020-1387 ______________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in No. 3:17-cv-13151-PGS-TJB, Sen- ior Judge Peter G. Sheridan. ______________________
Decided: December 17, 2020 ______________________
WILLIAM R. ZIMMERMAN, Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appel- lant. Also represented by THOMAS P. KRZEMINSKI, KAREN MARIE CASSIDY, Irvine, CA.
DONALD RHOADS, Rhoads Legal Group PC, New York, NY, argued for plaintiff-appellee. Also represented by H. DANNY KAO, Kao & Associates, Pc, Flushing, NY. ______________________ Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 2 Filed: 12/17/2020
Before LOURIE, CLEVENGER, and CHEN, Circuit Judges. LOURIE, Circuit Judge. Maia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Maia”) appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Dis- trict of New Jersey that Maia’s sincalide product infringes U.S. Patent 6,803,046 (“the ’046 patent”), owned by Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. (“Bracco”). J.A. 1–8. The court entered the judgment pursuant to a stipulation of infringement by the parties in view of the court’s claim construction of the terms buffer, surfactant/solubilizer, and surfactant. Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. v. Maia Pharms., Inc., No. 3:17-cv- 13151, 2019 WL 4885888 (D.N.J. Oct. 3, 2019) (“Claim Construction Order”). Because Maia stipulated to infringe- ment under a claim construction that is essentially correct, we affirm. BACKGROUND This appeal concerns a patent infringement action brought by Bracco under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Bracco owns the ’046 patent, listed in the Food and Drug Admin- istration’s (FDA) Orange Book as covering Kinevac®, the active ingredient of which is sincalide. The ’046 patent has claims directed to sincalide formulations, methods for mak- ing and using sincalide formulations, and sincalide powder kits. ’046 patent col. 37 l. 40–col. 44 l. 30. Sincalide, a synthetic peptide hormone, is typically administered to stimulate gallbladder contraction, stimulate pancreatic se- cretion, and accelerate the transit of a barium meal through the small bowel. J.A. 79–80, 191; ’046 patent col. 13 ll. 40–58. Although sincalide was originally introduced in 1976, the ’046 patent purports to teach sincalide formu- lations that are “purer than prior art formulations, and have fewer degradants and more consistent potency” in Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 3 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 3
part through addition of excipients 1 such as buffers, sur- factants/solubilizers, and surfactants. ’046 patent col. 1 ll. 9–26, 46–49. All 36 claims at issue in this litigation require sincalide, a buffer, and, depending on the claim, either a surfactant/solubilizer or a surfactant. Id. col. 37 l. 40–col. 40 l. 44. In 2017, Maia filed a New Drug Application (“NDA”) for its own sincalide product pursuant to FDCA § 505(b)(2). It is undisputed that Maia’s sincalide product contains amino acid excipients. Maia certified pursuant to § 505(b)(2)(A)(iv) that its sincalide product would not in- fringe the ’046 patent claims. Bracco filed suit in December 2017, alleging that Maia’s product does infringe the claims. Maia denied infringement, asserting that the amino acid excipients in its sincalide product do not act as buffers, sur- factants/solubilizers, or surfactants, as required by the claims. Maia also counterclaimed that the claims are inva- lid. The parties requested that the district court construe the terms buffer, surfactant/solubilizer, and surfactant. Central to the claim construction dispute was whether the three terms encompass amino acids. Claim 1 reads as follows: 1. A stabilized, physiologically acceptable formula- tion of sincalide comprising: (a) an effective amount of sincalide, (b) at least one stabilizer,
1 Although both parties reference “excipients” through- out their briefs, neither party defines the term. We accept the construction proposed by the district court: “An inac- tive substance that serves as the vehicle or medium for a drug or other active substance.” Claim Construction Order, 2019 WL 4885888, at *2 n.1 (citing Oxford English Diction- ary). Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 4 Filed: 12/17/2020
(c) a surfactant/solubilizer (d) a chelator, (e) a bulking agent/tonicity adjuster, and (f) a buffer. ’046 patent col. 37 ll. 41–49 (emphases added). Several dependent claims contain “Markush” groups that further recite that buffers or surfactants/solubilizers can be selected from a list of excipients that includes amino acids. A Markush group “lists alternative species or ele- ments that can be selected as part of the claimed inven- tion.” Multilayer Stretch Cling Film Holdings, Inc. v. Berry Plastics Corp., 831 F.3d 1350, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (citing Abbott Labs. v. Baxter Pharm. Prods., Inc., 334 F.3d 1274, 1280 (Fed. Cir. 2003)). Claim 3 depends from claim 1, and recites that an amino acid can be selected as a buffer: 3. The formulation of claim 1, wherein said buffer is selected from the group consisting of . . . one or more amino acids . . . and biological buffers. ’046 patent col. 37 ll. 51–60 (emphases added). Claim 6 depends from claim 1 and recites that an amino acid can be selected as a surfactant/solubilizer: 6. The formulation of claim 1, wherein said surfac- tant/solubilizer is selected from the group consist- ing of . . . amino acids. Id. col. 37 l. 65–col. 38 l. 5 (emphases added). Claim 40 is to a kit, where a powder mixture contains a surfactant: 40. A kit, comprising: (i) a powder mixture comprising Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 5 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 5
(a) sincalide, (b) at least one stabilizer, (c) a surfactant, (d) a chelator, (e) a bulking agent/tonicity ad- juster, and (f) a buffer; (ii) a container to hold said powder mix- ture; and (iii) optionally, a physiologically acceptable fluid. Id. col. 39 ll. 53–62 (emphasis added). Claim 44 depends from claim 40 and recites that an amino acid can be selected as a surfactant: 44. The kit of claim 40, wherein said surfactant is selected from the group consisting of . . . amino ac- ids. Id. col. 40 ll. 10–18 (emphases added). The specification provides further context regarding the meaning of the three terms. For example, the specifi- cation explains that buffers “are employed to stabilize the pH of sincalide formulations of the invention, and conse- quently, reduce the risk of chemical stability 2 at extreme pH values.” Id. col. 9 ll. 45–47. The specification provides a nonexclusive list of buffering agents “useful in the prep- aration of formulation kits,” which includes amino acids. Id. col. 9 ll. 48–65. The list of exemplary buffering agents in the specification is substantially similar to the buffering
2 We presume that this is a typographical error and the patentee intended to write “instability.” Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 6 Filed: 12/17/2020
agents listed in the dependent claims for buffer. See, e.g., id. col. 37 ll. 51–60. The specification also includes a section entitled “Sur- factants/Solubilizers/Surface Active Agents,” which ex- plains that “[t]he addition of a nonionic surfactant . . . may reduce the interfacial tension or aid in solubilization thus preventing or reducing denaturation and/or degradation at air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces of the product in solu- tion.” Id. col. 11 ll. 26–34. The specification further pro- vides two non-exclusive exemplary lists of surfactants/solubilizers, which include amino acids. Id. col. 11 ll. 35–63. The lists of exemplary surfactants/solu- bilizers in the specification overlap with the dependent claims for surfactants/solubilizers and surfactants. E.g., id. col. 37 l. 65–col. 38 l. 5, col. 40 ll. 11–18. With respect to the term buffer, the district court adopted the following construction: An excipient that: stabilizes the pH of sincalide for- mulations of the invention, and consequently, re- duces the risk of chemical stability at extreme pH values. Buffering agents useful in the preparation of formulation kits of the invention include phos- phoric acid, phosphate (e.g. monobasic or dibasic sodium phosphate, monobasic or dibasic potassium phosphate, etc.), citric acid, citrate (e.g. sodium cit- rate, etc.), sulfosalicylate, acetic acid, acetate (e.g. potassium acetate, sodium acetate, etc.), methyl boronic acid, boronate, disodium succinate hexahy- drate, amino acids, including amino acid salts (such as histidine, glycine, lysine, imidazole), lactic acid, lactate (e.g. sodium lactate, etc.), maleic acid, maleate, potassium chloride, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, carbonic acid, carbonate (e.g. sodium car- bonate, etc.), bicarbonate (e.g. sodium bicarbonate, etc.), boric acid, sodium borate, sodium chloride, succinic acid, succinate (e.g. sodium succinate), Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 7 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 7
tartaric acid, tartrate (e.g. sodium tartrate, etc.), tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane, biological buffers (such as N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine, N’-2- ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), CHAPS and other ‘Good’s’ buffers). Claim Construction Order, 2019 WL 4885888, at *10 (em- phasis added). The district court thus imported into its def- inition the list of exemplary buffering agents from the specification. It rejected Maia’s proposal to construe the term buffer to mean “[a] compound that stabilizes the pH of a sincalide formulation.” Id. at *3. The district court construed the term surfactant/solu- bilizer to mean: A surfactant and/or a solubilizer. The addition of a nonionic surfactant, such as polysorbate, to the for- mulation, may reduce the interfacial tension or aid in solubilization thus preventing or reducing dena- turation and/or degradation at air/liquid or liq- uid/solid interfaces of the product in solution. Surfactants/solubilizers include compounds such as free fatty acids, esters of fatty acids with polyox- yalkylene compounds like polyoxypropylene glycol and polyoxyethylene glycol; ethers of fatty alcohols with polyoxyalkylene glycols; esters of fatty acids with polyoxyalkylated sorbitan; soaps; glycerol-pol- yalkylene stearate; glycerol polyoxyethylene ricino- leate; mono- and copolymers of polyalkylene glycols; polyethoxylated soya-oil and castor oil as well as hydrogenated derivatives; ethers and esters of sucrose or other carbohydrates with fatty acids. Fatty alcohols, these being optionally polyoxyalkyl- ated; mono-, di-, and triglycerides of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids; glycerides or soya-oil and sucrose; sodium caprolate, ammonium sulfate, so- dium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), Triton-l00 and anionic Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 8 Filed: 12/17/2020
surfactants containing alkyl, aryl or heterocyclic structures. Examples of preferred surfactants/solubilizers for use in the present invention include, but are not limited to, pluronics (e.g., Lutrol F68, Lutrol F 127), Poloxamers, SDS, Triton-100, polysorbates such as TWEEN® 20 and TWEEN® 80, propylene glycol, PEG and similar compounds, Brij58 (poly- oxyethylene 20 cetyl ether), cremophor EL, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), dimethyla- cetamide (DMA), NP-40 (Nonidet p 40), and N-me- thyl-2-pyrrolidone (Pharmasolve), glycine and other amino acids/amino acid salts and anionic surfactants containing alkyl, aryl or heterocyclic structures, and cyclodextrins. TWEEN® 20 is the most preferred surfactant in formulations of the in- vention. Id. at *10 (emphasis added). As it did with the term buffer, the court imported a list of preferred surfactants/solubil- izers from the specification into its definition of the term. It rejected Maia’s proposal to construe surfactant/solubil- izer to mean “[a] surfactant that is also a solubilizer. A solubilizer is a compound that aids in solubilization, thus preventing or reducing sincalide denaturation and/or deg- radation cause by peptide aggregation, precipitation, sur- face adsorption, or agitation at air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces in solution.” Id. at *2. Lastly, the district court construed the term surfactant to mean “[a]n excipient that may reduce the interfacial ten- sion.” Id. at *10 (emphasis added). The court rejected Maia’s proposal to construe surfactant to mean “[a] com- pound that reduces the tension of the air/liquid or liq- uid/solid interface.” Id. at *5. The court also rejected Bracco’s proposal to import a list of exemplary surfac- tants/solubilizers from the specification into its definition. Id. at *7. Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 9 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 9
In view of the district court’s claim constructions, the parties stipulated to infringement of claims 1–3, 6, 10–17, 19, 21–23, 26, 30–37, 40–41, 44, and 48–55 (“the stipulated claims”) and dismissal of the remaining claims and de- fenses without prejudice. J.A. 1–8, 3666–3678. The court made no evidentiary findings regarding infringement in its final judgment. Maia appealed to this court. We have ju- risdiction over the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1295(a)(1). DISCUSSION Maia argues that we should vacate the district court’s construction of the terms buffer, surfactant/solubilizer, and surfactant, adopt Maia’s proposed constructions for the terms, and remand to the district court for further proceed- ings. At issue in this dispute is whether the district court erroneously included amino acids in its definitions of buffer and surfactant/solubilizer, erroneously construed the back- slash between surfactant/solubilizer to mean “and” or “or,” and erroneously included “may” in its definition of surfac- tant. Claim construction is a question of law that we review de novo. Teva Pharm. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 831, 839 (2015). We review de novo the district court’s find- ings of fact on evidence “intrinsic to the patent (the patent claims and specifications, along with the patent’s prosecu- tion history),” and review for clear error underlying fact findings related to extrinsic evidence. Id. at 841. As an initial matter, we note that the district court did not specify in its claim construction order which claims it was construing. Claim Construction Order, 2019 WL 4885888, at *10. However, that does not matter here, as we are dealing with the same claim limitations in all of the claims, and can readily review their constructions. In order to resolve the disputes, we turn to the claim language of the stipulated claims. See Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1314 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc). Both Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 10 Filed: 12/17/2020
the dependent and independent claims recite the disputed terms buffer, surfactant/solubilizer, or surfactant. The scope of the dependent claims is expressly defined by nam- ing the intended components, through Markush claiming. For example, dependent claims 3, 23, and 41 recite that a “buffer is selected from the group consisting of a [list of ex- cipients, including amino acids].” ’046 patent col. 37 ll. 51– 60, col. 38 ll. 58–67, col. 39 l. 63–col. 40 l. 5. The dependent claims that recite a surfactant and a surfactant/solubilizer are substantially similar. See, e.g., id. col. 39 ll. 5–12 (“[S]urfactant/solubilizer is selected from the group con- sisting of . . . .”), col. 41 ll. 5–12 (“[S]urfactant is selected from the group consisting of . . . .”). The Markush groups are “closed” because “[u]se of the transitional phrase ‘con- sisting of’ to set off a patent claim element” indicates that the claim “exclude[s] any elements, steps, or ingredients not specified in the claim.” Multilayer, 831 F.3d at 1358 (quoting AFG Indus., Inc. v. Cardinal IG Co., 239 F.3d 1239, 1245 (Fed. Cir. 2001)). Thus, the dependent claims need no formal construction because, through the Markush claim drafting, the possible components are named and the scope of the dependent claims is thus definite and clear. The independent claims also recite use of buffers, sur- factants/solubilizers, and surfactants in sincalide formula- tions, methods of making sincalide formulations, and sincalide kits. See, e.g., ’046 patent col. 37 ll. 41–49, col. 38 ll. 51–55, col. 39 ll. 53–62. However, unlike the dependent claims, the scope of the independent claims is not expressly defined by naming the possible components. We will there- fore construe the district court’s claim constructions as ap- plicable to the disputed independent claims. I. Buffer Maia argues that the district court wrongly imported a list of exemplary buffers from the specification into its definition of the term buffer. Maia asserts that the plain and ordinary meaning of buffer within the context of the Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 11 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 11
patent specification is functional: “a compound 3 that stabi- lizes the pH of a sincalide formulation.” Appellant Br. at 43–44 (emphasis added); see also ’046 patent col. 9 ll. 45– 47 (“Buffering agents are employed to stabilize the pH of sincalide formulations of the invention . . . .”) (emphasis added). According to Maia, the court eliminated the func- tional aspect of buffer by construing it to include excipients such as amino acids that do not necessarily have buffering effects. Maia asserts that the court’s broad construction of buffer is contrary to its plain and ordinary meaning. Maia emphasizes that its amino acids do not have buff- ering effects. It asserts, however, that because the district court defined buffer broadly to necessarily include all amino acids, even those that do not actually act as buffers, it had no choice but to stipulate to infringement. Maia ef- fectively interprets the court’s construction to mean: an ex- cipient that stabilizes the pH of a sincalide formulation and consequently, reduces the risk of chemical [in]stability at extreme pH values or [all amino acids regardless of func- tion]. Appellant Rep. Br. at 22. In other words, Maia does not consider the stipulation to be an admission that its amino acids actually function to stabilize the pH of a sin- calide formulation. Rather, the stipulation is only an ad- mission that Maia’s product has amino acids. Maia thus argues that if this court removes the “predetermined” list of excipients, which includes amino acids, from the defini- tion of buffer, we would need to remand the case for an in- fringement analysis as to whether Maia’s amino acids have buffering effects. Bracco responds that the district court properly defined buffer to include a list of excipients from the specification.
3 Maia’s proposed construction refers to a buffer as a compound. Appellant Br. at 43–44. The court construed buffer to be an “excipient.” According to Maia, the distinc- tion is not material to the case. Appellant Rep. Br. at 16. Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 12 Filed: 12/17/2020
Bracco first argues that the specification provides a list of excipients, including amino acids, that the “inventors used to define” buffer, and therefore the list must be included in the definition of buffer. Appellee Br. at 27 (citing ’046 pa- tent col. 9 ll. 45–65). Bracco also points to dependent claims, like claim 3, which recite that “a buffer is selected from the group consisting of” a substantially similar list of exemplary buffers as those listed in the specification. Ap- pellee Br. at 27. According to Bracco, any error in claim construction is harmless. It rejects Maia’s argument that it only stipu- lated to having amino acids in its product, not that its amino acids have buffering effects. Bracco asserts that Maia is misconstruing the district court’s construction of the three terms in the stipulation “as somehow reading out the functions required by the terms.” Appellee Br. at 16. Bracco states that when Maia stipulated to infringement, Maia effectively agreed that “each of [its] two amino acids is a ‘buffer’ excipient with a ‘buffer’ effect, which is [a]n ex- cipient that: stabilizes the pH of sincalide formulations . . . .” Id. at 16–17. Bracco thus argues that the court’s re- moval of the exemplary list has no effect on the infringe- ment analysis. Maia is foreclosed, Bracco argues, from asserting that its amino acids do not have buffering effects in view of the stipulation. Bracco also asserts that extrinsic evidence demonstrates that Maia’s amino acids function as buffers. However, Bracco does not cite any portion of the claim construction order or final judgment demonstrating that the court took into account evidentiary findings re- garding the function of Maia’s amino acids. We agree with Maia that the district court technically erred in importing a list of excipients into its definition of buffer. Listing numerous compounds that meet the lan- guage of a functional term in a claim confuses construing what the function is with what compounds perform that function. The latter is not the task of claim construction, which is to provide definitional meaning to claim language. Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 13 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 13
The court correctly did that when it stated that a buffer, for purposes of this invention, is “[a]n excipient that: stabi- lizes the pH of sincalide formulations of the invention, and consequently, reduces the risk of chemical [in]stability at extreme pH values.” Claim Construction Order, 2019 WL 4885888, at *10. That construction by the district court was correct, and the court’s technical error of then listing from the specification a long list of compounds meeting that meaning does not invalidate that functional construction. And claim 3 then recites that the buffer in claim 1 includes one or more amino acids. That technical error was thus harmless. Maia then stipulated to infringement. The key language of its stipulation reads as follows: “Under the Court’s construction of the disputed claim terms of the ’046 patent, . . . Maia’s 505(b)(2) NDA Product would literally infringe the 36 claims.” J.A. 3673; see also J.A. 5–6. That stipulation forecloses the argument for non- infringement. Maia argues that it had no choice but to stipulate to infringement because the district court’s construction re- moved the functional aspect of buffer and predetermined that Maia’s amino acids have buffering effects. But the dis- trict court did not “remove” the functional definition of buffer. The court correctly included the functional defini- tion in its claim construction. Maia asks us to effectively reinterpret the court’s construction to mean: an excipient that stabilizes the pH . . . buffering agents to include . . . [all amino acids regardless of function]. But that was not the stipulation. Maia also points to a “whereas” clause in the stipula- tion stating that “the [district court’s] construction, explic- itly defining ‘buffer’ . . . to include ‘amino acids,’ alone forms the basis for Maia’s admission and stipulation.” Appellant Rep. Br. at 23 (citing J.A. 3671) (emphasis added). But that is also not what the stipulation says, and we do not rely on a self-serving “whereas” clause to override the clear import Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 14 Filed: 12/17/2020
of the statement. That clause is directly contradictory to Maia’s admission in the other portion of the stipulation that its product meets “every element and claim term” of the claims. J.A. 3669. Moreover, even Maia admits that the “whereas” clause is neither binding nor conclusive. Ap- pellant Rep. Br. at 23. Maia similarly argued that the claims are invalid as inoperable, because, it asserts, amino acids are not buffers. However, it relinquished those arguments when it stipu- lated to infringement and dismissal of its counterclaims of invalidity. J.A. 6, 3673. Consequently, contrary to Maia’s assertion, it did have an opportunity to assert that its amino acids do not function as “buffering agents” because they do not “stabilize the pH.” To the extent that Maia be- lieved the district court’s construction had a particular meaning, it never sought clarification from the court, and that issue, in light of the stipulation, is now beyond the scope of this appeal. J.A. 3670. Having entered into a stip- ulation, Maia is now bound by it. See Inventio AG v. Otis Elevator Co., 497 F. App’x 37, 41 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (rejecting a party’s argument that it did not stipulate to a certain fact because the wording of the stipulation “suggests otherwise, and it is to that stipulation [the party] is bound”); United States v. Penland, 370 F. App’x 381, 383 (4th Cir. 2010) (re- jecting party’s attempt to disavow “unambiguous language set forth in the [s]tipulation”); United States v. Kieffer, 794 F.3d 850, 852 (7th Cir. 2015) (asserting that a party “may not disavow [its] stipulations by quibbling over seman- tics”). Because the district court’s claim construction is essen- tially correct and Maia stipulated to infringement if that were so, we affirm the judgment of infringement without remand. See, e.g., SUFI Network Servs., inc. v. United States, 755 F.3d 1305, 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (remand can be unnecessary where “no further record development is appropriate”); Shinyei Corp. of Am. v. United States, 524 F.3d 1274, 1284 n.3 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (holding that “because Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 15 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 15
the issues on appeal are legal, not factual, we see no need to remand”). II. Surfactant/Solubilizer We turn next to Maia’s argument that the district court erred in construing the term surfactant/solubilizer. Maia again argues here that the court wrongly imported a list of exemplary surfactants/solubilizers from the specification into the definition. Maia also argues that the court improp- erly construed the backslash between surfactant/solubil- izer to mean “and” or “or” rather than “and.” We address each argument in turn. With regard to the first issue, Maia argues that the dis- trict court “eviscerated” the functional aspect of the term surfactant/solubilizer by importing a list of exemplary ex- cipients into its definition regardless as to whether they ac- tually function as such. We agree with Maia that the district court technically erred in importing a list of excip- ients into its definition of surfactant/solubilizer. But, as with the term buffer, inclusion of the list of exemplary sur- factant/solubilizer agents, while technically incorrect, is es- sentially correct in its functional definition. As a result, the court’s technical error is harmless. Our analysis here is similar to our analysis regarding the district court’s error in construing buffer. The district court correctly included the functional definition in its claim construction. Its construction reads that a surfac- tant/solubilizer “may reduce the interfacial tension or aid in solubilization thus preventing or reducing denaturation and/or degradation at air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces of the product in solution.” Claim Construction Order, 2019 WL 4885888, at *10. Inclusion of the sentence “the addi- tion of a nonionic surfactant, such as polysorbate,” along with an exemplary list of surfactant/solubilizer agents, does not invalidate the functional portion of the construc- tion. Moreover, as with buffer, claim 6 recites that the sur- factant/solubilizer includes amino acids. ’046 patent col. 37 Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 16 Filed: 12/17/2020
l. 65–col. 38 l. 5. Maia’s product includes amino acids and thus it stipulated to infringement. When Maia stipulated to infringement under the court’s claim construction, it stipulated to infringing every limitation of the claims, not just to having amino acids. Having entered into a stipula- tion, Maia is bound by it. We now turn to Maia’s second argument. Maia argues that the district court wrongly construed surfactant/solu- bilizer to mean a surfactant “and” or “or” a solubilizer, ra- ther than a surfactant that is also a solubilizer. As support for its position, Maia argues that the specification sets forth a pattern of using a backslash to describe one excipi- ent that has multiple functions. For example, in Table 1, mannitol is reported to function as a “bulking agent/cake forming agent/tonicity adjuster.” ’046 patent cols. 3–4 Ta- ble 1. According to Maia, the table indicates that mannitol is a bulking agent [and] cake forming agent [and] tonicity adjuster. Appellant Br. at 34. Maia further argues that the district court’s construction of “surfactant/solubilizer” to mean a surfactant or solubilizer would allow the claims to encompass sincalide formulations without surfactants. According to Maia, that impermissibly broadens the scope of the claims beyond that supported by the specification be- cause every embodiment and description of the invention in the patent requires a surfactant. Maia points to Table 1 and example 7, both of which include sincalide formula- tions comprising surfactants, and statements in the speci- fication that the formulation includes a surfactant. Bracco responds that the specification supports its con- struction of the backslash to mean “and” or “or.” With re- spect to Maia’s argument that the specification only discloses embodiments comprising surfactants, Bracco ar- gues that Maia attempts to impermissibly read preferred embodiments into the claim. It asserts that the patent’s disclosure contains no disclaimer of sincalide formulations without surfactants and that, on the contrary, there are several examples of formulations in the specification that Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 17 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 17
do not contain surfactants, including those described in ta- bles 8 and 9. With regard to Maia’s argument that the specification uses the backslash in Table 1 to define a sin- gle excipient that has more than one function, Bracco as- serts that the backslash could also be construed in that context to mean “or.” For example, in Table 1, mannitol can be a bulking agent [or] a cake forming agent [or] a to- nicity adjuster. Appellee Br. at 46. We agree with Bracco that the district court correctly construed the backslash in surfactant/solubilizer to mean “and” or “or.” Beginning with the claim language, the plain reading of the claims is that the backslash means “and” or “or.” Claim 1, in relevant part recites: “A stabilized, phys- iologically acceptable formulation of sincalide comprising: . . . (c) a surfactant/solubilizer . . . .” ’046 patent col. 37 ll. 41–49 (emphasis added). Claim 7 depends from claim 1 and recites: “The formulation of claim 1, wherein said sur- factant is a nonionic surfactant.” Id. col. 38 ll. 6–7 (empha- sis added). Dependent claim 7’s recitation of a formulation with only a surfactant lends credence to Bracco’s argument that the backslash can mean “or” and not necessarily “and.” We next turn to the specification. Maia argues that this specification requires a construction of the backslash to mean only “and.” However, Maia’s argument is grounded solely on this specification’s ambiguous language and its disclosure of a few preferred embodiments of the patent that include sincalide formulations comprising sur- factants. For example, Maia argues that the specification sets forth a pattern of using a backslash when describing multiple functions performed by the same excipient, as ex- emplified by Table 1. However, as Bracco points out, the backslash in Table 1 can also be interpreted to mean “or.” Additionally, all of Maia’s quotes from the specification ref- erence a preferred embodiment. Appellant Br. at 35–36 (quoting ’046 patent col 1 ll. 56–62 (“In one aspect, the in- vention features sincalide formulations that include . . . a surfactant . . . .”), col. 2 ll. 1–2 (“In various embodiments of Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 18 Filed: 12/17/2020
the invention, the surfactant is a nonionic surfactant . . . .”)) (emphases added). Maia omits that the specification’s disclosure that “[t]he sincalide formulations of the inven- tion can include a variety of excipients, such as, for[] exam- ple . . . surfactants,” indicates that surfactants are not necessary. ’046 patent col. 4 ll. 8–12 (emphases added). Here, although the specification discloses a few preferred embodiments of sincalide formulations with surfactants, Maia has not demonstrated that the patentee has a “clear intention to limit the claim scope.” Hill-Rom Servs., Inc. v. Stryker Corp., 755 F.3d 1367, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2014). We thus conclude that the district court correctly con- strued the backslash in surfactant/solubilizer to mean “and” or “or.” III. Surfactant Lastly, Maia argues that the district court erred in con- struing the term surfactant to mean “an excipient that may reduce the interfacial tension.” Maia asserts that in con- struing surfactant, the court improperly imported into the definition ambiguous and non-definitional language from the specification—“[t]he addition of a nonionic surfactant. . . may reduce the interfacial tension.” See ’046 patent col. 11 ll. 27–34 (emphasis added). Maia argues that because every excipient “may” or “may not” reduce interfacial ten- sion, under the court’s construction, a surfactant encom- passes “every excipient in the universe,” including excipients that increase interfacial tension or are nonfunc- tional. Appellant Br. at 20. Maia argues that as a result, the court’s construction is contrary to the plain and ordi- nary meaning of the term. According to Maia, the plain and ordinary meaning of surfactant in view of the specification as a whole is a com- pound that “must” reduce the interfacial tension at the air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces. Appellant Rep. Br. at 18. As support for Maia’s narrower construction, it states that the only disclosed surfactant effect in the specification Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 19 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 19
is the reduction of interfacial tension at the air/liquid or liquid/solid interface rather than any increase in interfa- cial tension. Maia points to the specification’s disclosure that a nonionic surfactant may “reduce the interfacial ten- sion . . . at air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces . . . .” See ’046 patent col. 11 ll. 27–34. (emphases added). Maia also points to Example 3 of the patent, entitled “Effect of Sur- factants on Sincalide Formulations,” to support its argu- ment. Example 3 states, in relevant part, that use of even trace amounts of a surfactant “still produced a significant effect on the air/liquid interface.” ’046 patent col. 22 ll. 28– 30 (emphases added). Maia states that the “effect” refers to an increase in potency attributed to the surfactant’s re- duction of surface tension at the air/liquid interface. Maia further cites several dictionaries that define surfactant to mean an excipient that necessarily reduces interfacial ten- sion at the air/liquid or liquid/solid interface. Bracco responds that the district court’s construction is accurate in light of the specification’s explicit disclosure that a surfactant “may reduce the interfacial tension.” Bracco disagrees with Maia’s position that the court’s use of “may” in the definition renders the term meaningless. According to Bracco, a person of skill would interpret “may” to mean “capable of under certain circumstances.” Appel- lee Br. at 14. As support, Bracco cites expert testimony. Thus, Bracco argues that the court’s construction would in- clude only surfactants that can, or are capable of, reducing interfacial tension, but would not include “everything in the universe.” Id. at 13. Bracco also argues that Maia is improperly loading ad- ditional limitations onto the term from the specification by requiring that surfactant be construed as an excipient that must reduce interfacial tension at certain interfaces. Bracco contends that the patentee has made no clear and unmistakable disclaimer that the definition of surfactant should be limited in the manner that Maia proposes. With regard to Maia’s argument that the specification discloses Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 20 Filed: 12/17/2020
several statements and examples that surfactants reduce interfacial tension at the air/liquid or liquid/solid interface, Bracco responds that language referring to one preferred embodiment of a surfactant, does not so limit all surfac- tants. Id. at 39 (“[T]he addition of a nonionic surfactant, such as polysorbate, to the formulation, may reduce the in- terfacial tension . . . at air/liquid or liquid/solid interfaces.” (quoting ’046 patent col. 11 ll. 29–34)) (emphasis added). Bracco further contends that Maia misrepresents Ex- ample 3 as supporting its argument that the only surfac- tant effect disclosed in the patent is reduction of interfacial tension. According to Bracco, Maia purports to quote from Example 3’s disclosure that a nonionic surfactant “still pro- duced a significant effect on the air/liquid interface,” and misleadingly ascribes that “effect” to increase in potency resulting from a surfactant’s reduction of interfacial ten- sion, while cropping the next line, which actually explains that the effect was the elimination of “foaming in the for- mulation.” ’046 patent col. 22 ll. 28–31. Bracco addition- ally asserts that Maia’s requirement that surfactants function at the air/liquid or liquid/solid interface does not comport with claim 40, which is directed to a powder mix- ture kit that has no liquid present. With regard to the extrinsic evidence proffered by Maia, Bracco asserts that a person of ordinary skill, which Bracco contends is a peptide drug formulator, would not look to dictionaries to learn about the formulation of a pep- tide drug; according to Bracco, formulation of peptide drugs presents highly specialized technical issues and a diction- ary would not be of use to a skilled peptide formulator. Bracco points out that several of Maia’s dictionaries reject Maia’s narrow construction of “surfactant” in favor of de- fining it as “usually” effecting other properties and other interfaces. J.A. 587. Lastly, Bracco asserts that Maia’s construction does not take into account evidence that a per- son of skill would consider a surfactant to have other effects Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 21 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 21
including inhibition in aggregation, improvement in solu- bility, and reduction of adsorption. We agree with Bracco that the district court correctly construed the term surfactant. First, contrary to Maia’s assertion, the court’s use of the word “may” in its construc- tion does not render surfactant meaningless. We agree with Maia that “may,” standing alone, presents some am- biguity. However, the plain and ordinary meaning of “may” within the context of this specification is properly under- stood as indicating an inherent measure of likelihood or possibility. It is not used by a person of skill to describe an event that has no likelihood of occurring. For example, the specification discloses that “[t]he addition of a nonionic sur- factant . . . may reduce the interfacial tension” and contin- ues to provide an exemplary list of surfactants/solubilizers. ’046 patent col. 11 ll. 26–63 (emphasis added). It is unlikely that the patentee intended to provide an exemplary list of surfactants/solubilizers that could never be capable of re- ducing interfacial tension. Even Maia acknowledges that “may” encompasses possibility or probability in its brief. Appellant Br. at 19 (“It is undisputed that the term ‘may’ is permissive, used to indicate possibility.”). It follows that the district court’s definition includes excipients that re- duce interfacial tension, or are capable of reducing interfa- cial tension, but excludes excipients that can never reduce interfacial tension. Thus, the term is not meaningless, as Maia alleges. We further disagree with Maia’s argument that the specification expressly indicates that surfactants must re- duce interfacial tension at the air/liquid or liquid/solid in- terface. First, the specification’s disclosure that one type of surfactant “may reduce the interfacial tension,” supports the district court’s construction that surfactants need not necessarily reduce interfacial tension. ’046 patent col. 11 ll. 29–34 (emphasis added). Maia recites a few lines from the description section and from a preferred embodiment as support for its limitation. However, none of Maia’s Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 22 Filed: 12/17/2020
references indicates that the patentee intended to limit the claim scope in the manner that it asserts. For example, Maia argues that Example 3 demonstrates that the pur- pose of surfactants is to increase potency through reduction of interfacial tension, although Bracco rightly points out that the “effect” could be referring to foaming. Id. col. 22 ll. 28–31. We have repeatedly “cautioned against limiting the claimed invention to preferred embodiments or specific examples in the specification,” where, like here, the pa- tentee has not made a clear disavowal of the claim scope. Imaginal Systematic, LLC v. Leggett & Platt, Inc., 805 F.3d 1102, 1109–10 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (quoting Williamson v. Cit- rix Online, LLC, 792 F.3d 1339, 1346–47 (Fed. Cir. 2015)); see also Ericsson, Inc. v. D-Link Sys. Inc., 773 F.3d 1201, 1218 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (“[I]t is important that we avoid im- porting limitations from the specification into the claims.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Moreover, the district court’s construction is supported by the extrinsic evidence. In construing surfactant, the court relied on Dr. Forrest’s testimony that a peptide for- mulator in 2002 was aware that surfactants usually, but not necessarily, reduce interfacial tension. The court found his testimony “more thorough and reli[ant] upon a more authoritative list of sources” than Maia’s expert, Dr. Klibanov, who asserted that surfactants must reduce inter- facial tension at certain interfaces. Claim Construction Or- der, 2019 WL 4885888, at *8. We do not see, nor does Maia allege, any clear error in the court’s reliance on Dr. For- rest’s testimony over Dr. Klibanov’s testimony. CONCLUSION We have considered the parties’ remaining arguments but find them unpersuasive. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that while the district court technically erred in construing the terms buffer, surfactant/solubilizer, and surfactant, its construction is essentially correct. We therefore affirm the judgment of infringement. Case: 20-1387 Document: 54 Page: 23 Filed: 12/17/2020
BRACCO DIAGNOSTICS INC. v. MAIA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 23
AFFIRMED