In Re PAPST LICENSING GMBH & CO. KG LITIGATION

967 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2013 WL 1899610
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMay 8, 2013
DocketMisc. No. 2007-0493
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 967 F. Supp. 2d 1 (In Re PAPST LICENSING GMBH & CO. KG LITIGATION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re PAPST LICENSING GMBH & CO. KG LITIGATION, 967 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2013 WL 1899610 (D.D.C. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION RE: CAMERA MANUFACTURERS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OF NONINFRINGEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE “DATA TRANSMIT/RECEIVE DEVICE” CLAIM LIMITATION

ROSEMARY M. COLLYER, District Judge.

Papst Licensing GmbH & Co. KG, a German company, sues multiple manufacturers of digital cameras for alleged infringement of two patents owned by Papst: U.S. Patent Number 6,470,399 (399 Patent) and U.S. Patent Number 6,895,449 (449 Patent). The Camera Manufacturers 1 have moved for summary judgment of non-infringement with respect to the “data transmii/receive device” claim limitation in both Patents, asserting that when accused devices (basically, digital cameras) operate in Universal Serial Bus (USB) Mass Storage Class (MSC) mode they do not infringe the Patents as alleged. Papst contends that specific external accessories such as lenses, flashes, GPS units, and printers constitute data transmiVreceive devices within the meaning of the Patents because such accessories can transmit data to a computer via a camera operating in MSC mode. However, Papst fails to back up its argument with any evidence that contravenes the Camera Manufacturers’ evidence that when the accused cameras are connected to a computer in MSC *4 mode, the specified accessories do not and cannot transmit any data through the camera to the computer. Thus, such accessories do not and cannot meet the “data transmiVreceive device” limitation in the Patents when the camera is in MSC mode. Papst fails to point to any genuine disputes over issues of material fact. The Camera Manufacturers’ motion for summary judgment will be granted.

I. FACTS 2

Papst alleges that certain accused devices manufactured and/or sold by the Camera Manufacturers are “interface devices” that infringe Claims 1-3, 5, 7, 11, and 14-15 of the 399 Patent and Claims 1-2, 6-9, 12-13, and 15-18 of the 449 Patent. The accused products include digital cameras, camcorders, and digital voice recorders.

Each of the asserted Patent Claims requires a “data transmit/receive device” that can transmit data to a computer via the invention, an “interface device.” For example, Claim 1 of the 449 Patent states:

What is claimed is:
1. An interface device for communication between a host device, which comprises drivers for input/output devices customary in a host device and a multipurpose interface, and a data transmit/receive device comprising the following features:
a processor;
a memory;
a first connecting device for interfacing the host device with the interface device via the multi-purpose interface of the host device; and
a second connecting device for interfacing the interface device with the data transmit/receive device, wherein the interface device is configured by the processor and the memory in such a way that the interface device, when receiving an inquiry from the host device as to the type of a device attached to the multi-purpose interface of the host device, sends a signal, regardless of the type of the data transmit/receive device attached to the second connecting device of the interface device, to the host device which signals to the host device that it is a storage device customary in a host device, whereupon the host device communicates with the interface device by means of the driver for the storage device customary in a host device, and
wherein the interface device is arranged for simulating a virtual file system to the host, the virtual file system including a directory structure.

449 Patent, Claim 1, 11:45-67 & 12:1-6 (emphases added); 399 Patent, Claim 1, 12:41-67 & 13:1-13 (as relevant here, the same as the 449 Patent). 3

The Court construed the contested claims of the 399 and 449 Patents, finding that the term “data transmit/receive device” means “a device that is capable of either (a) transmitting data to or (b) transmitting data to and receiving data from the host device when connected to the host device by the interface device.” Modified Claims Construction Op. [Dkt. 336] *5 (Claims Constr. Op.) at 31 (emphasis added); see also Order [Dkt. 337] at 2. 4 The immediate motion for summary judgment is based on the “data transmit/receive device” claim limitation and the Court’s determination that a data transmit/receive device is a device capable of data transmission “when connected to the host device by the interface device” — that is, when the data transmit/receive device is attached to the invented interface device and thereby connected to the host computer.

The invention at issue is a “Flexible Interface for Communication Between a Host and an Analog I/O Device Connected to the Interface Regardless of the Type of the I/O Device.” 399 Patent, Title; 449 Patent, Title. An I/O device is an inpui/output device, repeatedly referred to as a “data transmit/receive device” in the Patents. See, e.g., 399 Patent 3:43-44 & 13:1-2, 449, Patent 4:6-7 & 11:63-64. A “host” is a computer. The 449 Patent is a continuation or divisional patent 5 that is quite similar to the 399 Patent. They share the same block diagram drawings, Figures 1 and 2. See, e.g., 399 Patent 9:15— 16 (“Figure 2 shows a detailed block diagram of an interface device, according to the present invention”); 449 Patent 8:15-16 (same). The 399 and 449 Patents also share much of the same specification.

The “interface device” is designed to provide data transfer between a data transmit/receive device and a computer without the need for special software; this is accomplished by telling the computer that the interface device is a transmit/receive device already known to the computer (and for which the computer already has drivers, i.e., software), regardless of what kind of data transmit/receive device actually is attached to the interface device. 399 Patent, Abstract; 449 Patent, Abstract. The Patents are “based on the finding that both a high data transfer rate and host device-independent use can be achieved if a driver for an inpui/output device customary in a host device, normally present in most commercially available host devices, is utilized,” instead of special driver software. 399 Patent 4:23-27, 449, Patent 3:27-31 (same); see also 399 Patent 6:19-22 (in the preferred embodiment, “[r]egardless of which data transmit/receive device at the output line 16 is attached to the second connecting device, the digital signal processor 13 informs the host device that it is communicating with a hard disk drive”); 499 Patent 5:19-22 (same). 6 Thus, the purpose of the invention is “to allow fast communication between dissimilar data transmit/receive devices and computers, without the need for special software drivers.” Claims Constr. Op. at 22; see

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

Related

Papst Licensing Gmbh & Co. KG v. Fujifilm Corp.
778 F.3d 1255 (Federal Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
967 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2013 WL 1899610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-papst-licensing-gmbh-co-kg-litigation-dcd-2013.