Epcon Gas Systems, Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc.

90 F. App'x 540
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedFebruary 2, 2004
DocketNo. 03-1303
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 90 F. App'x 540 (Epcon Gas Systems, Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, 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
Epcon Gas Systems, Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc., 90 F. App'x 540 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

Opinion

LINN, Circuit Judge.

Epcon Gas Systems, Inc. and Norman S. Loren (collectively “Epcon”) appeal from a decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 98-CV-75392, granting summary judgment of non-infringement of Epcon’s U.S. Patent No. 5,118,455 (“the ’455 patent”) in favor of defendant Bauer Compressors, Inc. (“Bauer”). Epcon Gas Sys., Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc., 243 F.Supp.2d 729 (E.D.Mich.2003). Although the district court erred by modifying the construction of the claim term “substantially below” on remand from this court, the district court correctly concluded that Epcon failed to show that Bauer met the “increased, decreased, or held substantially constant” limitation of claim 2 of the ’455 patent and thus correctly granted summary judgment of non-infringement on that basis. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The ’455 patent is directed to a method and apparatus for providing gas assistance to an injection molding process. In 1998, Bauer began making and selling a “nitrogen control unit” suitable for use in gas assisted injection molding. Epcon sued Bauer, alleging that Bauer’s activities infringed claims 2 and 16 of the ’455 patent. Epcon Gas Sys., Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc., 134 F.Supp.2d 838, 841 (E.D.Mich.2000) (“Epcon /”). After con[541]*541struing the disputed claim limitations, the district court ultimately granted summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of Bauer. Id. at 850. Epcon appealed to this court. Epcon Gas Sys., Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc., 279 F.3d 1022 (Fed.Cir. 2002) (“Epcon II”).

In Epcon II, we held that claim 2 “is a garden variety process claim” and the district court erred in analyzing claim 2 according to 35 U.S.C. § 112, U 6. Id. at 1028. After discussing the claim language and prosecution history, we affirmed the district court’s construction of the limitation “substantially below.” Id. at 1031. However, we reversed the district court’s construction of other claim terms. Id. at 1033. Based on the revised claim constructions and a review of Epcon’s evidence of direct infringement, we determined that Epcon had raised a genuine issue of material fact concerning direct infringement, reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment of non-infringement, and remanded the case for further consideration. Id. at 1034.

On remand, the district court revised its claim construction of “substantially below” and again granted summary judgment of non-infringement of method claim 2 in favor of Bauer on two alternate grounds: Epcon failed to present evidence that Bauer practiced the method by selectively increasing, decreasing, and holding constant the gas pressure, and Epcon failed to present evidence that Bauer infringed the method by practicing gas injection molding at pressure differentials of 6000 psi or higher. Epcon Gas Sys., Inc. v. Bauer Compressors, Inc., 243 F.Supp.2d 729, 738-39 (E.D.Mich.2003) (“Epcon III”). Epcon appealed to this court for a second time. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1) (2000).

ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

“We review the grant of summary judgment de novo, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party.” Teleflex, Inc. v. Ficosa N. Am. Corp., 299 F.3d 1313, 1323 (Fed.Cir.2002) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)). Summary judgment is only appropriate if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. SRI Int’l v. Matsushita Elec. Corp. of Am., 775 F.2d 1107, 1116 (Fed.Cir.1985) (en banc).

II. “Substantially Below”

On appeal, Epcon argues that the district court modified the construction of the “substantially below” limitation in claim 2 of the ’455 patent that we approved in the previous appeal, and thereby violated the doctrine of law of the case. The doctrine of law of the case requires lower courts to follow the rulings of appellate courts on issues that have actually been decided by appellate courts. Exxon Corp. v. United States, 931 F.2d 874, 877 (Fed.Cir.1991). Claim constructions previously determined on appeal to this court are law of the case on remand. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 149 F.3d 1309, 1315 (Fed.Cir.1998) (“In the previous appeal, this court established the construction of all the claim terms in dispute. Thus, claim construction need not be repeated here, as our prior construction is law of the case.”) (internal citation omitted); see also BioTech. Gen. Corp. v. Genentech, Inc., 267 F.3d 1325, 1331 (Fed.Cir.2001).

The district court initially construed the “substantially below” limitation as follows:

Accordingly, the court must determine the proper meaning for the term “substantially” in the context of the 455 Pat[542]*542ent.... In the case of the second phrase, that stating that the pressure of the gas injected into the mold is substantially below that of the stored gas supply, it will be read to mean that the pressure of gas injected into the mold is below that of the stored gas supply to a considerable degree.
$ $ $ $
In an effort to forestall any future dispute about the meaning of “considerable”, this court understands that term to mean large. This court does not attach specific values to the respective pressures, that in the supply of stored gas and the pressure of the gas injected into the mold. The court notes, however, that the drafters of the j.55 Patent include examples of the pressures at which various elements of the claimed invention are to operate at several points in the specification of the 155 Patent. These values disclose pressure differences on the order of 6-11,000 psi, with the pressure of the stored gas supply always being the higher of the quoted pressures. Accordingly, the court finds that pressure differentials of 6-11,000 psi are “substantial” for purposes of the interpretation of the disputed claims of the 455 Patent, with the pressure of the gas injected into the mold always being the lower of the two values. The court believes that a pressure differential of, say, 8,000 psi would commonly be understood by one skilled in the art to be “substantial”.

Epcon I, 134 F.Supp.2d at 847 (emphasis added).

When we reviewed the claim constructions of the ’455 patent in Epcon’s prior appeal, we affirmed the district court’s construction of “substantially below,” stating inter alia:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Spendingmoney LLC v. American Express Co.
863 F. Supp. 2d 144 (D. Connecticut, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
90 F. App'x 540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/epcon-gas-systems-inc-v-bauer-compressors-inc-cafc-2004.