LP MATTHEWS LLC v. Bath & Body Works, Inc.

458 F. Supp. 2d 189, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76116, 2006 WL 2987677
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in LP MATTHEWS LLC v. Bath & Body Works, Inc.. Read the opinion of the Court — 458 F. Supp. 2d 198
District Court, D. Delaware·Decided October 19, 2006·No. CIV. 04-1507-SLR·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On December 8, 2004, LP Matthews LLC (“plaintiff’) filed suit against Kao Brands Co. and Kao Corporation (together, “KBC”), 1 as well as Bath & Body-works, Inc. and Limited Brands, Inc. (together, “BBW”) 2 (collectively, “defendants”), alleging infringement of claims 6 and 9 of United States Patent No. 5,063,-062 (“the ’062 patent”) under 35 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq.. (D.I.l) Plaintiff amended its complaint on February 2, 2005. (D.I.5) On April 4, 2005, BBW filed a counterclaim against plaintiff, requesting a declaratory judgment that: (1) it did not infringe the ’062 patent; (2) the ’062 patent is invalid; and (3) the action at bar qualifies as an “exceptional case” under 35 U.S.C. § 285. (D.I.22) Currently before the court are the parties’ motions for summary judgment on the issue of infringement. (D.I.12, 249, 259, 262, 267) The court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332, and 1338(a), and venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1391 and 1400(b).

II. BACKGROUND

A. The ’062 Patent

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) issued the ’062 patent on November 5, 1991. (D.I.2) The patent lists Douglas Greenspan and William Ingram as the assignees. (Id.) On July 31, 1990, Greenspan and Ingram decided “to grant to The Greenspan Company [ (‘Greenspan Co.’) ] the sole and exclusive right to control of the manufacture, license, marketing and all other aspects of control of the product Healthy Kleaner and control of the patent that has been applied for on the product if issued,” which ultimately became the ’062 patent; Greenspan and Ingram signed a nunc pro tunc agreement to that effect on March 15, 2004. (D.I.142, exs.B, E) On January 15, 2004, Greenspan Co. purported to assign to plaintiff the rights to the ’062 patent. 3 (Id, exs. D, F)

The ’062 patent, entitled “Cleaning Compositions with Orange Oil,” describes the patented product (“the invention”) as

[a] cleaning composition for cleaning the skin [which] contains orange oil, a pharmaceutically acceptable moisturizer and an emulsifying agent[.] Preferably the orange oil accounts for between 5% and 60% by volume, and it [is] further preferred that the composition contains 40% orange oil by volume. The moisturizer is either glycerin, aloe vera, jojoba oil, safflower oil or a combination thereof. The emulsifying agent preferably is oatmeal. The composition is constituted to have a pH of between 4.5 and 6.0, and the composition may be packaged as *192 moistened towellets [sic] in hermetic packets.

(’062 patent, Abstract) The invention was designed to remove “non-water soluble products” such as “grease, caulking, adhesives, sealants, tar, oils, ink and the like,” which typically do not respond effectively to more common cleansers like hand soap. (Id., col. 2, 11. 12-15) Other substances which are commonly used to remove non-water soluble products “are harsh and can damage the skin, especially after prolonged use.” (Id., col. 1, 11. 28^43) The inventors recognized “the suitability of orange oil” as a skin cleaning compound; however, “[ojrange oil by itself is a skin irritant that can cause inflammation of the tissues.” (Id., col. 1, 11. 50 to col. 2, 11. 7) As a result, after creating a number of different samples with differing amounts of orange oil and pH levels (id., col. 2-8), the inventors claimed a range of mixtures which they believed would “remove[ ] unwanted substances from the human skin but also act[ ] to help clean and revitalize the human skin.” (Id., col. 2, 11. 21-24) Plaintiff alleges that defendants have infringed claims 6 and 9 of the ’062 patent, which claims disclose the following:

6. A skin cleaning composition for external use on human tissues, comprising orange oil, a pharmaceutically acceptable moisturizer for human skin and an oat grain derivative product as an emulsifying agent, wherein said composition has a pH within a range of 4.5 to 6.0 inclusively.
9. A cleaning composition for use on human skin comprising forty-five percent (45%) or less by volume of orange oil, forty-five percent (45%) or less by volume of oatmeal and a pharmaceutically acceptable moisturizer.

(Id., col. 10,11.1-6,13-17) 4

B. The Accused Products

1. The KBC Products

Plaintiff has accused four of KBC’s products (“the KBC products”) of infringement in the case at bar. 5 Plaintiff and KBC agree that the KBC products incorporate no more than 0.03% orange oil by weight (which translates to no more than approximately 0.035% orange oil by volume). (D.I. 248 at 4; D.I. 251, exs. 1-4; D.I. 260, ex. J at 35-37)

2. The BBW Products

Twenty-seven different products made by BBW (“the BBW products”) are at issue in the case at bar. 6 (D.I. 292 at 5-6) *193 According to the report prepared by plaintiffs expert, Christopher T. Rhodes, the amount of orange oil contained in the BBW products ranges from a low of 0.01% to a high of 1%. (D.I. 260, ex. J at 14-35) The same report indicates that 25 of the BBW products contain no more than 3% of any oat-derived ingredient. 7 (Id.) The specified pH range for 16 of the BBW products overlaps in some way with the range of 4.5-6.0 (inclusive) stated in the ’062 patent. 8 (Id.)

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A court shall grant summary judgment only 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 judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

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LP MATTHEWS LLC v. Bath & Body Works, Inc., 458 F. Supp. 2d 189, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76116, 2006 WL 2987677 (D. Del. 2006).

458 F. Supp. 2d 189 (LP MATTHEWS LLC v. Bath & Body Works, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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