Faroudja Laboratories, Inc. v. Dwin Electronics, Inc.

83 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3172, 2000 WL 177182
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedFebruary 9, 2000
DocketNo. Civ. 97-20010SW
StatusPublished

This text of 83 F. Supp. 2d 1119 (Faroudja Laboratories, Inc. v. Dwin Electronics, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Faroudja Laboratories, Inc. v. Dwin Electronics, Inc., 83 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3172, 2000 WL 177182 (N.D. Cal. 2000).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DWIN’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON NON-INFRINGEMENT

SPENCER WILLIAMS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Faroudja Laboratories, Inc. and General Instrument Corporation (collectively referred to as “Faroudja”) initially brought this action against Defendant Dwin Electronics, Inc. (“Dwin”) for infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 4,876,596 (“ ’596 patent” or “ ’596”). After Dwin filed a motion for summary judgment of noninfringement, Faroudja amended its complaint to add a charge of infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 4,998,287 (“’287 patent” or “ ’287”). The Court granted Dwin’s motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of the ’596 patent. See Order Granting Dwin’s Motion for Summary Judgment of Noninfringement, filed February 24, 1999. Dwin now moves for summary judgment that its LD2 (Rev.B), LD5, LD10 and TranScanner products (collectively referred to as “Line Dou-blers”) do not infringe any of the !287 patent claims.1 Faroudja opposes Dwin’s motion. Upon consideration of the briefs2 and oral arguments of the parties, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Dwin’s motion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Relevant Technology

Commercial motion picture film, which is filmed at 24 frames per second, can be [1122]*1122converted to video, which is displayed at 60 fields per second, using one technique known as the 3:2 pulldown method. 3:2 pulldown is the most commonly used conversion method in the United States and involves a process whereby a single film frame is scanned to create a resulting signal comprised of two or three video fields. Each video field contains half the lines of each film frame which are alternately designated as “even” or “odd” fields. For instance, when film frame 1 is scanned using the 3:2 pull down method, three video fields are created: fields 1 and 3 will represent the “even” lines of film frame 1, whereas field 2 will represent the “odd” lines. When film frame 2 is scanned, only two video fields are created: field 4 will represent the “odd” lines of film frame 2, while field 5 will represent the “even” lines.

The conversion of film to video does not result in an even distribution of film frames to video field even/odd pairs. For conventional viewing, this does not matter because the even and odd video fields are displayed on a standard television screen in an alternating even/odd format known as “interlacing.” However, when interlacing is removed and both even and odd lines are displayed sequentially in a “progressive scan” format using a “line doubler” device, the resulting scene can contain unpleasant “motion artifacts” because video lines from different film frames can end up displayed together.

B. The ’287 Patent

Faroudja’s ’287 patent is entitled “Determination of Sequential Positions of Video Fields Derived From Film”. The ’287 patent discloses a system which seeks to eliminate motion artifacts and improve picture quality.

The ’287 patent discloses storing alternating odd and even video fields and recombining them into a single progressive scan video scene containing both the odd and even lines. To improve the image quality, the ’287 patent describes a means of comparing the video fields to determine if the fields are derived from the same film frame. ’287 discloses a field comparator to measure the differences between the compared video fields. If the compared fields are from the same film frame, the measured difference between the fields will be smaller than a predetermined threshold value. For video fields that were derived from film, identical fields will exist at certain predetermined positions in the field sequence. By comparing the field comparison results with this predetermined sequence, a determination of whether the video signal was derived from a film source can be made.

The ’287 patent also discloses a system that synchronizes these video fields to the film source frames. For a video source that was derived from film, the patented invention enters “film mode” and triggers a switching circuit that recombines odd and even video fields in an improved manner into a single progressive scan video. Through the comparisons made by the patented system, video fields derived from different film frames are not displayed together which eliminates the unpleasant motion artifacts. The patented system continues to compare and recombine video fields until the device no longer detects that the video signal was derived from a film source. The system then reverts into “video mode” until film is again detected.

Claims 1-5 of the ’287 patent are at issue in this case. Each of these claims is expressed in “means-plus-function” form pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6.

C. The Accused Devices

In this action, Faroudja alleges that Dwin infringes the ’287 patent through the manufacture, use, offer for sale, and sale of various products referred to as Dwin’s Line Doublers. The accused devices are used to process television signals for display on big screen television systems. Dwin contends that its Line Doublers do not infringe the ’287 patent claims because its products do not contain the following elements:

[1123]*1123means for comparing each received video field with a video field that has been delayed by the duration of said given number of video fields, as required in claims 1-3 and 5;
means for inserting indications of sequential video field position in the received video fields, as required in claim 2;
means for timing said comparisons of said compared results with the predetermined sequence of providing an indication that the video fields were not so derived from film when a determination that identical fields are located in only said predetermined positions in a sequence of the compared received video fields, as required in claim 3; and
means for determining whether the received video signal was derived from film frames when the video fields were produced in accordance with a repetitive sequentially varying relationship to the film frames, as required in claim 4.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“Summary judgment is appropriate in a patent case, as in other cases, when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Nike Inc. v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc., 43 F.3d 644, 646 (Fed.Cir.1994) (citations omitted). A party moving for summary judgment bears “the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion .... ” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party must demonstrate that no genuine issue of material fact exists for trial. See id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. However, the moving party is not required to negate those portions of the nonmoving party’s claim on which the nonmoving party bears the burden of proof. See id.

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83 F. Supp. 2d 1119, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3172, 2000 WL 177182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/faroudja-laboratories-inc-v-dwin-electronics-inc-cand-2000.