Lecat's Ventriloscope v. MT Tool & Mfg.

351 F. Supp. 3d 1100
District Court, E.D. Illinois·Decided November 20, 2018·No. No. 16 C 5298·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Chief Judge Rubén Castillo, United States District Court

Lecat's Ventriloscope ("Plaintiff") filed this suit against MT Tool and Manufacturing ("Defendant") for alleged infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,645,141 (the "'141 Patent"). (R. 1, Compl.) The trial previously set for August 2018 was recently vacated. (R. 77, Min. Entry; R. 140, Min. Entry.) Both parties have moved for partial summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. (R. 130, PL's Mot.; R. 132, Def.'s Mot.) For the reasons stated below, Plaintiff's motion is granted in part and denied in part, and Defendant's motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

For brevity, the Court presumes familiarity with this case, the '141 Patent, the prosecution history of the '141 Patent, and the Court's claim construction ruling, as thoroughly set forth in several prior opinions. See Lecat's Ventriloscope v. MT Tool & Mfg. , No. 16 C 5298, 2018 WL 3651592 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 1, 2018) (denying Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings); Lecat's Ventriloscope v. MT Tool & Mfg. , 283 F.Supp.3d 702 (N.D. Ill. 2018)

*1107(construing disputed claim terms); Lecat's Ventriloscope v. MT Tool & Mfg. , No. 16 C 5298, 2017 WL 489416 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 6, 2017) (granting in part and denying in part Defendant's motion to strike Plaintiff's initial infringement contentions); Lecat's Ventriloscope v. MT Tool & Mfg. , No. 16 C 5298, 2017 WL 1362036 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 6, 2017) (denying Defendant's motion to dismiss). In brief, the '141 Patent discloses and claims an "arrangement for auscultation training"-auscultation being "the act of listening to sounds within the body as a method of diagnosis." (R. 54-1, '141 Patent, at [21], [54], col. 1 ll. 13-14.) A stethoscope is an example of an auscultation device. (Id. col. 1 ll. 14-18.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant indirectly infringes the '141 Patent by marketing and selling a stethoscope-like training device, the MT S-Scope ("S-Scope"). (R. 54, Am. Compl. ¶ 9.) Plaintiff alleges both forms of indirect infringement: induced infringement in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) and contributory infringement in violation of Section 271(c). (Id. ¶¶ 6-34; R. 82-2, Pl.'s Am. Infringement Contentions at 3.)

The parties disagreed over the proper construction of various claim terms. Lecat's Ventriloscope , 283 F.Supp.3d at 704. The Court issued claim constructions for the disputed terms on January 11, 2018. (R. 75, Mem. Op.) The Court ordered that the parties complete discovery by June 29, 2018, and set a trial date of August 13, 2018. (Id. at 5; R. 77, Min. Entry.) The Court subsequently vacated that trial date. (R. 140, Min. Entry.) On July 30, 2018, the parties filed their present motions for summary judgment.1 (R. 130, Pl.'s Mot.; R. 132, Def.'s Mot.) The Court addresses each of the parties' arguments in turn below.

LEGAL STANDARD

Rule 56 provides that "[t]he court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a). Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (citation omitted). "A genuine dispute as to any material fact exists if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Kvapil v. Chippewa Cty., 752 F.3d 708, 712 (7th Cir. 2014) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In deciding whether a dispute exists, the Court must "construe all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party." Nat'l Am. Ins. Co. v. Artisan & Truckers Cas. Co. , 796 F.3d 717, 723 (7th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted).

Under Rule 56, the movant has the initial burden of establishing that a trial is not necessary. Sterk v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC , 770 F.3d 618, 627 (7th Cir. 2014). "That burden may be discharged by showing ... that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). If the movant carries this burden, the nonmovant "must make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential *1108to that party's case." Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The nonmovant "must go beyond the pleadings (e.g. , produce affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or admissions on file) to demonstrate that there is evidence upon which a jury could properly proceed to find a verdict in [its] favor." Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

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