Digital Privacy, Inc. v. RSA SECURITY, INC.

195 F. Supp. 2d 771, 62 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1773, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5920, 2002 WL 517794
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Digital Privacy, Inc. v. RSA SECURITY, INC.. Read the opinion of the Court — 199 F. Supp. 2d 457
District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided April 4, 2002·No. 2:01CV529·Published

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER CLAIM CONSTRUCTION

REBECCA BEACH SMITH, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on a patent infringement claim in which plaintiff Digital Privacy, Inc. (“Digital Privacy”) alleges that defendant RSA Security, Inc. (“RSA”) infringes upon Digital Privacy’s United States Patent Number 5,515,440 (“the ’440 patent”), and United States Patent Number 5,610,981 (“the ’981 patent”). Before the determination of whether there has been infringement, the court must construe the patent claims at issue to ascertain their meaning and scope as a matter of law. Markman v. Westview Instruments, 52 F.3d 967, 976 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc), aff'd, Markman v. Westview Instruments, 517 U.S. 370, 116 S.Ct. 1384, 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996). Digital Privacy submitted a Markman claim construction brief on March 12, 2002, to which RSA filed a response on March 18, 2002. RSA submitted a Markman brief on March 14, 2002, to which Digital Privacy filed a response on March 15, 2002. The parties presented evidence and argument in a three-day Markman hearing on March 19-21, 2002. The court has reviewed the claim language, specifications, and prosecution histories of the ’440 patent and the ’981 patent, together with all of the other evidence presented by the parties in their claim construction briefs and at the subsequent Markman hearing. The court *773 construes the ’440 patent and the ’981 patent as set forth below.

I. Background

The ’440 patent and the ’981 patent are related, share the same priority date, and trace their origin to a common parent patent application filed on June 4, 1992. The parent patent, United States Patent Number 5,327,497 (“the ’497 patent”), which is titled “Preboot Protection of Unauthorized Use of Programs and Data With a Card Reader Interface,” issued to Mooney, et al., on July 5, 1994. The ’440 patent, which is also titled “Preboot Protection of Unauthorized Use of Programs and Data With a Card Reader Interface,” issued on May 7, 1996, as a continuation of the ’497 patent. The ’981 patent, which is titled “Preboot Protection for a Data Security System with Anti-Intrusion Capability,” issued March 11, 1997, as a continuation of the ’497 patent. Both the ’440 patent and the ’981 patent provide that their terms shall not extend beyond the expiration date of the ’497 patent. The ’440 and ’981 patents can be, and therefore are, discussed together. 1

II. Discussion

A. Patent Infringement and Principles of Claim Construction

There are two steps in a patent infringement analysis. First, the court must analyze the asserted patent claims to determine the proper meaning and scope of the disputed claims. Markman, 52 F.3d at 976. This step is commonly referred to as “claim construction.” Second, the court must compare the asserted claims against the allegedly infringing product based on the court’s interpretation of the scope of the patent. Id.

The purpose of a patent is to apprise the public of what is protected by a particular patent. Markman, 517 U.S. at 373, 116 S.Ct. 1384. Therefore, while construing a patent, the court must look first to matters in the public record. Burke, Inc. v. Bruno Indep. Living Aids, Inc., 183 F.3d 1334, 1340 (Fed.Cir.1999). In ascertaining the scope of the patent, the court should primarily consider intrinsic sources, which are the sources available to the public: (1) the language of the claims, (2) the specification contained in the patent, and (3) the prosecution history. Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed.Cir.1996) (“Such intrinsic evidence is the most significant source of the legally operative meaning of disputed claim language.”); Markman, 52 F.3d at 979. Claims are construed from the vantage point of what one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood the term to mean at the time of the invention. Id. at 986.

A claim term should be given its ordinary meaning unless the specification or prosecution history indicate a different meaning or definition. Johnson Worldwide Assocs. v. Zebco Corp., 175 F.3d 985, 989 (Fed.Cir.1999) (stating there is a “heavy presumption in favor of the ordinary meaning of claim language”); Kegel Co. v. AMF Bowling, Inc., 127 F.3d 1420, 1427 (Fed.Cir.1997). The claims must be read “in view of the specification, of which they are a part.” Markman, 52 F.3d at 979; see also 6 Ernest B. Libscomb III, Libscomb’s Walker on Patents, § 21:40, at 393 (3d ed. 1987 & 2002 Supp.) (“Construction of words, terms, and phrases used in the claims should be according to the specification.”). The specification is *774 “highly relevant to the claim construction analysis,” Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582, because it contains “a written description of the invention ... in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art ... to make and use [the invention].” 35 U.S.C. § 112.

The claims must also be read in light of the prosecution history. The prosecution history is critically significant in determining the meaning of the claims, because it limits the interpretation by excluding any interpretation that was disclaimed during prosecution. Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582-83; Southwall Techs., Inc. v. Cardinal IG Co., 54 F.3d 1570, 1576 (Fed.Cir.1995). “In construing claims, the problem the inventor was attempting to solve, as discerned from the specification and the prosecution history, is a relevant consideration.” CVI/Beta Ventures, Inc. v. Tura LP, 112 F.3d 1146, 1160 (Fed.Cir.1997).

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Digital Privacy, Inc. v. RSA SECURITY, INC., 195 F. Supp. 2d 771, 62 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1773, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5920, 2002 WL 517794 (E.D. Va. 2002).

195 F. Supp. 2d 771 (Digital Privacy, Inc. v. RSA SECURITY, INC.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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