Procter & Gamble Co. v. Team Technologies, Inc.

46 F. Supp. 3d 764, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128801, 2014 WL 4626011
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 15, 2014
DocketCase No. 1:12-cv-552
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 46 F. Supp. 3d 764 (Procter & Gamble Co. v. Team Technologies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Procter & Gamble Co. v. Team Technologies, Inc., 46 F. Supp. 3d 764, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128801, 2014 WL 4626011 (S.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OF INDEFINITENESS (Doc. 91)

TIMOTHY S. BLACK, District Judge.

This civil action is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment of Indefiniteness (Doc. 91) and the parties’ responsive memoranda (Docs. 97, 104,114,127, and 128).

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants are infringing three patents: U.S. Patent No. 5,891,453 (“the '453 Patent”), U.S. Patent No. 5,894,017 (“the '017 Patent”), and U.S. [766]*766Patent No. 7,122,199 (“the '199 Patent”), which concern home tooth whitening products. This civil action was originally brought only against Defendant Team Technologies, Inc. (“Team Tech”). (Doc. 1). Defendant Clio USA, Inc. (“Clio”) was added to the suit in September 2012, and Defendant Brushpoint Innovations, Inc. (“Brushpoint”) was added in February 2013. (Doc. 10; Doc 42). The Court issued its Order on Claim Construction on November 11, 2013. (Doc. 71).

Defendants now move this Court for summary judgment that certain claims of the '453 Patent and the '017 Patent are invalid for indefiniteness because they include the claim term “substantially/almost unnoticeable when worn,” on the basis that there is no dispute of material fact on the issue and Defendants have proven by clear and convincing evidence that a person of ordinary skill in art would not understand the bounds of those claims. (Doc. 91).

II.UNDISPUTED FACTS1

1. The '453 Patent was issued on April 6, 1999. (Doc. 91-2 at 2).

2. The '453 Patent claims priority on its face to a filing on June 6, 1997. (Id.)

3. The '453 Patent has 22 total claims. (Id.)

4. Plaintiff asserts that Defendants infringe Claims 1-3, 6-8, 9, 11, 18, and 21 of the '453 Patent. (Id. at 24).

5. The original claims of the '453 patent were rejected for obviousness under 35 USC § 103(a) over Schi-raldi in view of secondary and tertiary references. (Id. at 102, 105).

6. The '017 Patent was issued on April 13,1999. (Id. at 14).

7. The '017 Patent has 21 total claims. (Id.)

8. Plaintiff asserts that the Defendants infringe Claims 1-3, 7, 8-9, and 12 of the '017 Patent. (Id. at 24).

9. Claims 1 and 8 are the only independent claims of the '017 Patent that are being asserted by Plaintiff. All other asserted claims are dependent upon either Claim 1 or Claim 8. (Id. at 14-20, 24).

10. The original claims of the '017 patent were rejected for obviousness under 35 USC § 103(a) over Schi-raldi in view of secondary and tertiary references. (Id. at 116, 119).

11. Dr. Harald Heymann submitted an expert report on December 23, 2013. (Id. at 131-40).

12. In Dr. Heymann’s first report, he describes his investigation into whether the Accused Products are unnoticeable when worn. To do so, he first applied the strip to his own teeth and looked in the mirror “at normal speaking distance (approximately 3-4 feet)” and “up close (less than one foot).” (Id. at 137-38).

13. Dr. Heymann also “instructed certain individuals to apply” the Accused Products. He then “observed their teeth at a normal speaking distance, both immediately after application, during the recommended 30-minute wearing period and at the end of that period.” (Id. at 138).

14. In Dr. Heymann’s Fourth Report, he was “asked to review certain portions of the expert report sub[767]*767mitted by Dr. Abdul Gaffar.” (Id. at 143).

15. Dr. Atwood submitted a first expert report on December 23, 2013 regarding infringement by the Accused Products. (Id. at 152-56).

16. Dr. Atwood agreed with and adopted the opinion of Dr. Hey-mann as it pertained to the “substantially/almost unnoticeable when worn” limitations of the asserted claims. (Id. at 154).

17. Dr. Atwood’s Third Report was submitted on February 13, 2014. For this report, Dr. Atwood was asked to review the second expert report submitted by Dr. Abdul Gaf-far. (Id. at 159).

18. Dr. Atwood disagreed with Dr. Gaf-far’s conclusions regarding the “substantially/almost unnoticeable when worn” limitation. Dr. Atwood stated that he maintained his “original agreement with and adoption of Dr. Heymann’s opinions.” (Id. at 165).

19. Dr. Gaffar submitted a report on non-infringement on January 27, 2014. (Id. at 170-82).

20. The Court issued a claim construction order in this case on November 22, 2013. (Doc.71).

21. The Court construed “almost unnoticeable when worn/substantially unnoticeable when worn” as those terms appear in Claim 1 of the '453 patent and in Claims 1 and 8 of the '017 Patent to mean “not readily apparent to others when worn.” (Id. at 3,13).

22. The Court noted that “the specification refers to either visual or audio detection” in adopting the Plaintiffs proposed claim construction of these terms. (Id. at 13).

23.Plaintiff argued for the adopted construction based in part upon the concept that the invention is that the invention is designed to “permit the wearer to use the system during social discourse without interfering with the wearer’s speech or appearance.” (Id.) '

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A. Summary Judgment

A motion for summary judgment should be granted if the evidence submitted to the Court demonstrates that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party has the burden of showing the absence of genuine disputes over facts which, under the substantive law governing the issue, might affect the outcome of the action. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. All facts and inferences must be construed in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

A party opposing a motion for summary judgment “may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but ... must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (1986).

B. Patent Indefiniteness

United States patents are presumed valid. 35 U.S.C. § 282. Accordingly, patent claims are presumed to satisfy the definiteness requirement set forth in 35 U.S.C.

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

Related

Abboud v. Travelers
N.D. Ohio, 2022
Advanced Aerospace Technologies, Inc. v. United States
124 Fed. Cl. 282 (Federal Claims, 2015)
3M Innovative Properties Co. v. GDC, Inc.
109 F. Supp. 3d 1115 (D. Minnesota, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 F. Supp. 3d 764, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128801, 2014 WL 4626011, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/procter-gamble-co-v-team-technologies-inc-ohsd-2014.