Masco Corp. v. United States

56 Fed. Cl. 400, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 82, 2003 WL 21180372
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 8, 2003
DocketNo. 99-93C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 56 Fed. Cl. 400 (Masco Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Masco Corp. v. United States, 56 Fed. Cl. 400, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 82, 2003 WL 21180372 (uscfc 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

DAMICH, Chief Judge.

This case comes to the Court for a decision after remand. The Federal Circuit has asked this Court to consider whether Masco’s patents are literally infringed by the Government’s X-07 lock, or whether the patents are infringed under the doctrine of equivalents. For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds Masco’s patents are not infringed either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment.

I. Background

Masco sued the United States for infringement of its patents describing electronic combination locks, and the United States has filed third party claims against the companies that manufactured and sold the accused device to the United States. The Court heard argument on claim construction and rendered an opinion with respect to several limitations of United States Patent Nos. 5,540,068 (’068 patent) and 5,778,711 (’711 patent). Masco Corp. v. United States, 47 Fed.Cl. 449 (2000). Both patents are continuations of United States Patent No. 5,307,656 (’656 patent). Following the Court’s ruling on claim construction the Court considered the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court granted Defendant’s cross-motion because the Court found Masco was collaterally estopped from proving that the accused lock similarly operated by pushing the lever into engagement or that the pulling action in the accused lock was equivalent to [402]*402pushing. Masco Corp. v. United States, 49 Fed.Cl. 337, 344 (2001). Because Masco failed to prove the final action of the' method claim, which required that rotation of a dial or knob transmit a force “to drive” a lever inside the lock into engagement with the cam wheel, Masco could not prove infringement of its patents. Id. at 344. Masco appealed the Court’s ruling.

The Federal Circuit considered the Court’s rulings on claim construction and the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment; the Federal Circuit affirmed this Court’s decision in part, and remanded in part. Writing for the panel, Judge Linn reversed the Court’s ruling with respect to the “transmitting a force” limitation of Claim 1 set forth in each of the ’068 and ’711 patents. Masco Corp. v. United States, 303 F.3d 1316, 1328 (Fed.Cir. 2002). The Court disagreed with this Court’s holding that it was a step-plus-function limitation, and rather, the Federal Circuit held that “transmitting a force” was an act. The Court’s claim construction ruling with respect to the other disputed limitations was affirmed. Relevant to this Court’s decision on remand is the Federal Circuit’s ruling on the “to drive” limitation. This Court interpreted the “to drive” limitation as meaning “to push.” In rendering its decision on claim construction, this Court considered the plain meaning of the word “to drive” and also considered the intrinsic record, specifically the patent specification and the prosecution history. Judge Linn agreed with the Court’s analysis and found that Masco’s broad definition of drive is inconsistent with the specification of ’068 patent and its prosecution history, as well as the prosecution history of its parent patent. Masco, 303 F.3d at 1325. Judge Linn said “[bjecause the amendment distinguished the pulling action found in the German patent, Masco cannot now maintain that the proper scope of the ‘to drive’ term is broad enough to encompass that pulling action.” Masco Corp., 303 F.3d at 1325-26.

With regard to this Court’s ruling concerning collateral estoppel, the Federal Circuit found that the Court erred in its finding that issue preclusion applied to the factual issues of whether the lever of the X-07 lock was pushed or pulled, and whether pushing was equivalent of pulling. The previous ruling on which issue preclusion was based is related to a previous law suit filed by Masco’s predecessor LaGard, Inc. against Mas-Hamilton Group. The litigation was over the parent patent ’656 and whether the accused device, the X-07, infringed the ’656 patent. The district court found that the X-07 lock did not infringe the ’656 patent either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district’s court’s opinion, however, it did not reach the issue whether the lever was pushed or pulled, or the equivalence, if any, of those motions. Masco, 303 F.3d at 1331 (citing Mas-Hamilton II, 156 F.3d at 1213). Judge Linn reasoned that since the Federal Circuit did not reach the push/pull issue, “Masco is not precluded from relitigating the issues of whether the lever is pushed into the cam in the X-07 lock and whether pushing and pulling are equivalent.” Id. The Court relied on Han-nahville Indian Cmty. v. United States, 180 Ct.Cl. 477, 485, 1967 WL 8873 (1967), which held:

The doctrine of res judicata must be so limited since a factual issue cannot, consistent with the statutory right to appellate review, be said to have been finally adjudicated when the appellant has been precluded from obtaining the appellate review which he sought and to which he would have been entitled if the fact had been material.

Thus, the Court remanded the push/pull issue for consideration by this Court.

On remand, the Court must rule on the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment. Masco seeks summary judgment on a finding of infringement of claims 1, 2, and 3 of the ’068 and ’711 patents for either literal infringement or infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.1 Defendant has filed a [403]*403cross-motion on the issue of non-infringement. Oral Argument was held on December 18, 2002 on the issue whether the lever is pushed into the cam in the X-07 lock, and based on the existing record, whether a genuine issue of material fact would preclude summary judgment in this case. For the reasons stated below, Masco’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED; Defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is GRANTED.

II. Standard for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and thus the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. RCFC 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Jay v. Secretary, DHHS, 998 F.2d 979, 982 (Fed.Cir.1993). The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Jay, 998 F.2d at 982. After adequate time for discovery and on motion, summary judgment is appropriate against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, where that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322,106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The Court must resolve any doubts about factual issues in favor of the non-moving party, Chiuminatta Concrete Concepts, Inc. v. Cardinal Indus., Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
56 Fed. Cl. 400, 2003 U.S. Claims LEXIS 82, 2003 WL 21180372, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/masco-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-2003.