Continental Circuits LLC v. Intel Corporation

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided December 16, 2019·No. 2:16-cv-02026·Unknown

Opinion

WO

Continental Circuits LLC, No. CV16-2026 PHX DGC

Plaintiff, ORDER

v.

Intel Corporation, et al.,

Defendants. Plaintiff Continental Circuits LLC asserts claims for patent infringement against Defendants Ibiden U.S.A. Corp., Ibiden Co. Ltd., and Intel Corp. The Court previously ruled on claim construction (Doc. 243), and its decision was reversed by the Federal Circuit. See Cont’l Circuits LLC v. Intel Corp., 915 F.3d 788, 792 (Fed. Cir. 2019). The case has been remanded for further litigation. The Court’s previous ruling declined to address three means-plus-function claims. Doc. 243 at 18-20. The parties have now re-briefed the construction of these claims. Docs. 324, 325, 336, 337. This order will set forth the Court’s ruling. A. Background.1 When the claims of a patent include the “means for” doing something, they describe a function. But if a function is claimed, what structure of devices has actually been patented? Congress has answered this question in 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), which 1 The Court assumes the reader is familiar with the background facts and will recount only facts and events relevant to construction of the means-plus-function claims. provides that “[a]n element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or a step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.” 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).2 This provision “allows a patentee to express a claim limitation by reciting a function to be performed rather than by reciting structure or materials for performing that function.” Northrop Grumman Corp. v. Intel Corp., 325 F.3d 1346, 1350, 66 U.S.P.Q.2d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2003). How then is a function claim construed so as to enable a fact finder to determine when the claim has been infringed? Under § 112(f), “[s]uch a limitation is construed to cover the corresponding structure, materials, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.” Id. As the Federal Circuit has explained: Functional terms written in “means” form are “construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.” 35 U.S.C.A. § 112, ¶ 6. Infringement is found literally if the claimed function is performed by either the structure described in the patent or an equivalent of that structure. Thus construction of “means” claim terms requires review of not only the function, but also the structure by which it is performed. Vulcan Eng’g Co., Inc. v. Fata Aluminium, Inc., 278 F.3d 1366, 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2002). The Court’s task is to identify the “function” associated with the plain language of the claim and then identify the corresponding “structure” in the specification that is associated with that function. Medtronic, Inc. v. Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc., 248 F.3d 1303, 1311 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (“The first step in construing such a limitation is a determination of the function of the means-plus-function limitation. The next step is to determine the corresponding structure described in the specification and equivalents thereof.”). 2 Cases cited by the parties, the parties’ briefs, and some language quoted in this order refer to this statute as § 112 ¶ 6. In 2011, Congress reformatted the paragraphs of § 112 as subsections. Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (‘AIA’), Pub. L. No. 112-29, 125 Stat. 284 (2011). Thus, § 112, ¶ 6 is now codified as § 112(f). The parties briefed this issue before the Court’s earlier claim construction ruling, and agreed that three claims, two in the ’582 patent and one in the ’105 patent, are means-plus-function limitations. See Doc. 177 at 15-16.3 The parties also agreed on the function for each term. Id. The first limitation identified by the parties, found in Claim 109 of the ’582 Patent, is “means for joining the conductive layer to the dielectric material.” Doc. 177 at 15. The parties agreed in their previous briefing that this claim has the following function: “joining the conductive layer to the dielectric material.” Id. The second limitation is found in Claim 114 of the ’582 Patent and reads: “means for mechanically gripping a conductive layer to the surface of the dielectric material so that the conductive layer is burrowed in and under the top surface of the dielectric material.” Id. The parties agreed on the following function for this claim: “mechanically gripping a conductive layer to the surface of the dielectric material so that the conductive layer is burrowed in and under the top surface of the dielectric material.” Id. The third term comes from the ’105 Patent and reads: “means for interlocking a conductor part of the circuitry configured for filling cavities with an epoxy dielectric material disposed in combination with the circuitry and coupled with the conductor part.” Id. at 116.4 The parties agree on this function: “interlocking a conductor part of the circuitry configured for filling cavities with an epoxy dielectric material disposed in combination with the circuitry and coupled with the conductor part.” Id. In the previous claim construction briefing, Plaintiff proposed a different structure for each of these claims. This was based in part on Plaintiff’s belief that each of the claims disclosed a different function. While it is true that the language of the functions was different, the Court disagreed with Plaintiff’s premise:

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