Eastcott v. Hasselblad A/S, Hasselblad USA Inc.

892 F. Supp. 2d 557, 2012 WL 4372886, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138171
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 24, 2012
DocketNo. 11 Civ. 5383(JSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 892 F. Supp. 2d 557 (Eastcott v. Hasselblad A/S, Hasselblad USA Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eastcott v. Hasselblad A/S, Hasselblad USA Inc., 892 F. Supp. 2d 557, 2012 WL 4372886, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138171 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

JED S. RAKOFF, District Judge.

Plaintiff John Eastcott, a professional photographer and the inventor of U.S. Patent No. 5,592,331 (“the '331 patent”), brings suit against defendants Hasselblad A/S, Hasselblad USA Inc, (collectively “Hasselblad”) and B & H Photo & Electronics Corp. (“B & H”). Eastcott alleges that Hasselblad’s HTS 1.5 adapter (the “HTS 1.5 adapter”) infringes three claims of his patent, which relates to adapters for tilting a lens with respect to a camera. The defendants move for summary judgment, arguing that two of the three claims, claims 1 and 6, were anticipated by a [559]*559German patent (the “'496 patent”) that was published 15 years before the '331 patent, and that the third claim of the '331 patent, claim 26, is invalid for obviousness in view of another United States patent (the “'963 patent”). Defendants also argue that the HTS 1.5 adapter does not infringe Claim 26 of the '331 patent. After full consideration, the Court grants the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismisses the complaint.

The '331 patent, titled OPTICAL ADAPTER FOR CONTROLLING THE ANGLE OF THE PLANE OF FOCUS, was filed as U.S. Patent Application No. 08/374,248 on January 18, 1995 and issued on January 7, 1997. According to the '331 patent, tilting a lens relative to the image plane of a camera can bring objects positioned at different distances from the lens into focus simultaneously. Declaration of Mark Johnson (“Johnson Deck”), Jan. 17, 2012, Ex. A, U.S. Patent No. 5,592,331 (the “'331 patent,”) at 3:51-58. Such tilting also allows a user to render objects “positioned at the same distance from the lens plane with different degrees of sharpness.” Id. For example, “a portrait of a person facing the camera may be recorded with one side of the face sharp and the other mysteriously soft and out of focus.” Id.

The three claims of the patent that plaintiff asserts were infringed by defendants are Claims 1, 6, and 26. The text of those three claims is as follows:

Claim 1:
An adapter for altering the angle of the plane of focus of an optical system, the optical system including (a) an optical instrument having an opening through which an image forming beam can pass, an image plane adapted to receive an image thereon and an optical axis, and
(b) an interchangeable lens having an optical axis; the adapter being sandwiched between, and removably connected to, the optical instrument and the interchangeable lens; the adapter having (i) an adapter body; (ii) a secondary lens mounted within the adapter body, (iii) a front face coupling means on the adapter body to removably mount the interchangeable lens thereto, (iv) a back face coupling means on the adapter body to removably mount the adapter to the optical instrument, and (v) tilt means to tilt the optical axis of the interchangeable lens at a variable, including non-perpendicular, angle to the image plane of the optical instrument.
Claim 6:
An adapter as in claim 1 wherein the adapter tilt means tilts the secondary lens and the interchangeable lens attached to the front face coupling means of the adapter body and thereby tilts the optical axis of the interchangeable lens at an acute angle to the optical axis of the optical instrument.
Claim 26:
An adapter as in claim 1 wherein the tilt means includes a mounting ring holding the secondary lens two pins protruding outwardly from the mounting ring and a casing member having two slots therein at acute angles to the optical axis of the optical instrument and wherein each pin slides within one of the slots.

The allegedly infringing device here is the HTS 1.5 adapter. This adapter provides both tilt and swing functionality.1 When Hasselblad began to market its HTS 1.5 adapter (including through defendant B & H), it stated that the adapter was “revolutionary” because it provided creative [560]*560control for photographers by allowing them greater ability to control the plane of focus. Declaration of Douglas C. Wyatt, Jan. 27, 2012 (“Wyatt Decl.”), Ex. 15. After Eastcott learned of Hasselblad’s intention to sell the allegedly infringing HTS 1.5 adapter, he immediately wrote to Hasselblad’s CEO, Christian Poulsen, to share his belief that the adapter infringed his '331 patent. See Wyatt Decl. Ex. 11.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), a party seeking summary judgment must demonstrate that there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact” and that the party is “entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P.56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). “[Sjummary judgment will not lie ... if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

Before turning to the merits of the dispute, the Court must examine the admissibility of the affidavit submitted by Eastcott in support of his opposition to the motion for summary judgment. See Wyatt Decl., Ex. 23, Affidavit of John Eastcott (“Eastcott Aff.”). The majority of the affidavit is essentially a combination of a legal brief and an expert report, and Eastcott is not qualified to submit either. The affidavit includes headings such as “Claim 1 is not Anticipated,” and “Claim 26 of '331 Patent is not Obvious Over '496 German Patent in View of the '963 Patent,” followed primarily by legal argument and opinions in support of those headings.

The Court will not discuss problems with each of the individual paragraphs of the affidavit at great length, but it is necessary to set forth a few examples of paragraphs from the affidavit to illustrate its content:

• Mr. Poulsen’s expert testimony on how it would be obvious for the zoom lens of the '963 patent to be used with the adapter of the German '496 patent is not convincing because he has no background in photography but rather is an engineer with a background in the magnetic field theory and coherent radar receivers.
• The Defendants’ HTS 1.5 adapter infringes claims 1, 6, and 26 of the patent-in-suit. The Defendants copied Plaintiffs invention claimed in the '331 patent.
• Defendants’ Statement concerning the inadequacy of Mr. Eastcott’s testimony about infringement are reputed [sic] in detail by issues nos. 1-24 in Eastcott’s Statement of Material Fact in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion. As pointed out in Plaintiffs Objections to Defendants’ Statement ■ of Material Fact, the questions by Defendants’ attorney are asking for legal conclusions and not statements of fact.
• Claims 1 and 6 of the U.S. 5,592331 (“331”) patent are not anticipated by the German Patent DE 28551496 (“496”) and claim 26 is not obvious over the '496 patent in view of the U.S. 5,264,963 (“963”) patent.

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Related

Eastcott v. Hasselblad USA, Inc.
564 F. App'x 590 (Federal Circuit, 2014)
Eastcott v. Hasselblad A/S
892 F. Supp. 2d 587 (S.D. New York, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
892 F. Supp. 2d 557, 2012 WL 4372886, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eastcott-v-hasselblad-as-hasselblad-usa-inc-nysd-2012.