Doyle v. Crain Industries, Inc.

49 F. App'x 920
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedNovember 1, 2002
DocketNo. 01-1599
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 49 F. App'x 920 (Doyle v. Crain Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doyle v. Crain Industries, Inc., 49 F. App'x 920 (Fed. Cir. 2002).

Opinion

RADER, Circuit Judge.

At close of plaintiffs’ case-in-chief, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that Crain Industries, Inc., Cannon U.S.A., Cannon Viking, Ltd., and Foaming Technologies Carcho B.V. (collectively Crain) did not infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,120,770 (’770 patent), owned by Earl N. Doyle and W. Scott Carson (collectively D&C). Doyle v. Crain Indus., Inc., No. H-97-3468, slip op. at 39 (SD.Tex. Sept. 21, 2001) (Doyle II). The court further held that the ’770 patent was invalid. Id. Because a reasonable jury could find for D&C on patent invalidity and on literal, willful, contributory, and induced infringement, this court vacates the grant of JMOL on these issues and remands. This court affirms the grant of JMOL of no infringement by equivalents because no reasonable jury could find for D&C on that issue.

I.

The ’770 patent claims a method for the production of open-cell polyurethane foam. The claimed method involves forming a mixture from a number of components, including a blowing agent, in a mixing zone. Independent claim 21 requires that the mixture of components be “subjected to a pressure in said mixing zone which is sufficient to maintain said blowing agent in the liquid state at ambient temperatures.” ’770 patent, col. 9, II. 16-19. In a prior appeal this court determined that this claim language requires sufficient pressure to keep the blowing agent, such as carbon dioxide (C02), in a liquid state at ambient temperatures in the mixing zone. [922]*922Doyle v. Crain Indus., Inc., 243 F.3d 564 (Fed.Cir.2000) (unpublished opinion) (Doyle /). Hence, this court remanded the case for determination, inter alia, of whether the accused CarDio method maintains a pressure sufficient to keep the blowing agent liquid when the temperature in the mixing zone is “about 70°F to about 100°F.” Id.

On remand, D&C asserted infringement of dependent claims 39, 40, and 41 of the ’770 patent-all of which depend (directly or indirectly) from claim 21. The district court granted JMOL of noninfringement and invalidity at the close of D&C’s (the plaintiffs-patentees’) case-in-chief. Doyle II at 39. The court held that the accused CarDio method did not maintain a liquid blowing agent in the mixing zone as required by claim 21, and therefore did not infringe the ’770 patent. The court stated that the objective evidence showed that the C02 blowing agent used in the CarDio method is a gas-in-solution in the mixing zone. Further, the court held the ’770 patent invalid for failure to disclose the best mode and for lack of enablement. Crain alleged and the district court agreed that the ’770 patent’s failure to disclose the use of a T-bar let down device violated the best mode requirement. The T-bar device gradually lowers the pressure of the mixture to atmospheric pressure as it is ejected from the mixing chamber. The court also found that the ’770 patent contained no disclosure of how to establish sufficient back pressure to maintain the C02 in the liquid state, nor any disclosure of how to lower that pressure to atmospheric pressure in order to successfully produce foam.

II.

This court reviews a grant of JMOL without deference, reapplying the JMOL standard. Allied Colloids, Inc. v. Am. Cyanamid Co., 64 F.3d 1570, 1573, 35 USPQ2d 1840, 1849 (Fed.Cir.1999). JMOL is appropriate when “a party has been fully heard on an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(l)(2002). Hence, a grant of JMOL on an issue is improper if a reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party on that issue.

A.

An infringement analysis compares the construed claims with the allegedly infringing device. Kemco Sales, Inc. v. Control Papers Co., 208 F.3d 1352, 1360, 54 USPQ2d 1308, 1312 (Fed.Cir.2000). To prove infringement, the patentee must show that the accused device meets each claim limitation, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Seal-Flex, Inc. v. Athletic Track & Court Const., 172 F.3d 836, 842, 50 USPQ2d 1225, 1228 (Fed. Cir.1999).

1.

On remand, D&C presented evidence attempting to show that the accused CarDio method maintained pressure sufficient to keep the C02 blowing agent liquid when the temperature in the mixing zone is about 70-110°F. That evidence included testimony by Mr. Doyle, who was not designated as an expert, stating that he believed the CarDio method would not work unless the C02 was liquid in the mixing zone. Mr. Doyle, however, admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the CarDio method, and that he believed it was impossible to measure the C02 in the dynamic mixing zone. Although Mr. Doyle’s testimony alone may not constitute convincing evidence to support a finding of infringement, D&C presented other evidence that does provide such support.

[923]*923D&C introduced the CarDio manual, which Crain previously admitted accurately reflected its CarDio method. The manual states (emphasis added):

Mixing
As is the case for storage of liquid carbon dioxide, pressure and temperature conditions must be maintained at levels which ensure that the C02 remains in the liquid state at all times.

Additionally, D&C presented testimony by Glen Cavenaugh, the former Vice President and Technical Director of Trinity Foam. Before its closing in 1997, Trinity Foam was a third-party CarDio method licensee. Mr. Cavenaugh testified that Trinity followed the CarDio manual instruction to keep the C02 liquid at all times. He further testified:

Q. And once you put the liquid C02 into the polyol stream in that CarDio system at Trinity Foam, did it form a solution....?
A. Yes, sir, yeah, yes, it certainly did. Q. Is it a solution of liquid and liquid? A. Yes, sir.
Q. So C02 is liquid and the polyol is liquid?
A. That is correct.
Q. [D]id you run the CarDio system in such a manner to utilize pressures to avoid gas formation?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. [Cram’s attorney] stated the will [sic] C02 was gas in the mixing zone. Does that comport with your understanding and how you ran the process at Trinity Foam.... ?
A. No. At my plant we are doing liquid and we are doing many things to keep it a liquid in the mixing zone.

On cross-examination, Crain asked Mr. Cavenaugh what temperature and pressure ranges Trinity used in performing the CarDio method. Crain then plotted the ranges on a phase diagram for C02, which showed the C02 to be in a vapor state in the specified ranges. On re-direct, however, Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
49 F. App'x 920, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doyle-v-crain-industries-inc-cafc-2002.