Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc v. Oz-Post International, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 15, 2020
Docket3:18-cv-01188
StatusUnknown

This text of Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc v. Oz-Post International, LLC (Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc v. Oz-Post International, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc v. Oz-Post International, LLC, (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 SIMPSON STRONG-TIE COMPANY, Case No. 3:18-cv-01188-WHO INC, 8 Plaintiff, SECOND CLAIM CONSTRUCTION 9 ORDER v. 10 Re: Dkt. No. 151 OZ-POST INTERNATIONAL, LLC, 11 Defendant.

12 13 Before me is a second round of disputes over claim terms from two patents that were 14 recently added to this declaratory judgment action brought by Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc. 15 (“Simpson”) against patent owner Oz-Post International LLC dba OZCO Building Products 16 (“OZCO”). My constructions of the parties’ disputed terms follow. 17 BACKGROUND 18 Simpson and OZCO are competitor companies that design and manufacture connectors and 19 anchors for the construction industry. Until March of this year, this case involved assertions of 20 infringement, noninfringement, and invalidity related to two patents assigned to OZCO: U.S. 21 Patent No. 9,957,998 (“the ’998 Patent”) and U.S. Design Patent No. D798,701 (“the ’701 22 Patent”). The ’998 Patent aims to simulate antique architectural hardware (like rivet, nail, and pin 23 or nut, bolt, and washer connectors) with mounting hardware that is both easier to install and more 24 cost effective. ’998 Patent 1:30–31, 53–56. 25 On March 26, 2019, I construed the ten most significant claim terms from the ’998 Patent.1 26 First Claim Construction Order [Dkt. No. 87]. On November 14, 2019, I granted partial summary 27 1 judgment in favor of Simpson. Dkt. No. 129. 2 On March 10, I granted the parties’ joint request to vacate the trial date and set a new case 3 schedule that would allow the addition of two patents issued to OZCO in December 2019: U.S. 4 Patent No. 10,520,007 (“’007 Patent”) and U.S. Design Patent No. D870,545 (“’545 Patent”). 5 Both the ’007 and ’545 Patents are continuations of the ’998 Patent. Before me now are the 6 parties’ disputed claim terms from those two patents. After briefing by both sides, a virtual claim 7 construction hearing occurred on June 5, 2020. 8 LEGAL STANDARD 9 Claim construction is a matter of law. See Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 10 U.S. 370, 372 (1996); Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1996). 11 “Generally, a claim term is given its ordinary and customary meaning—the meaning that a term 12 would have to a person of ordinary skill in the art in question at the time of the invention.” 13 Howmedica Osteonics Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc., 822 F.3d 1312, 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (internal 14 quotation marks and citation omitted). In determining the proper construction of a claim, a court 15 begins with the intrinsic evidence of record, consisting of the claim language, the patent 16 specification, and, if in evidence, the prosecution history. Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 17 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2005); see also Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582. “A claim term used in multiple claims 18 should be construed consistently . . . .” Inverness Med. Switzerland GmbH v. Princeton 19 Biomeditech Corp., 309 F.3d 1365, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2002). 20 “The appropriate starting point . . . is always with the language of the asserted claim itself.” 21 Comark Commc’ns, Inc. v. Harris Corp., 156 F.3d 1182, 1186 (Fed. Cir. 1998). “[T]he ordinary 22 and customary meaning of a claim term is the meaning that the term would have to a person of 23 ordinary skill in the art in question at the time of the invention, i.e., as of the effective filing date 24 of the patent application.” Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1312. “There are only two exceptions to this 25 general rule: 1) when a patentee sets out a definition and acts as his own lexicographer, or 2) when 26 the patentee disavows the full scope of a claim term either in the specification or during 27 prosecution.” Thorner v. Sony Computer Entm’t Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012). 1 of New York v. Symantec Corp., 811 F.3d 1359, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2016). 2 Like a person of ordinary skill in the art, courts read terms in the context of the claim and 3 of the entire patent, including the specification. Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1313. The specification is 4 “the single best guide to the meaning of a disputed term.” Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582. “The 5 construction that stays true to the claim language and most naturally aligns with the patent’s 6 description of the invention will be, in the end, the correct construction.” Renishaw PLC v. 7 Marposs Societa’ per Azioni, 158 F.3d 1243, 1250 (Fed. Cir. 1998). The court may also consider 8 the prosecution history of the patent, if in evidence. Markman, 52 F.3d at 980. The prosecution 9 history may “inform the meaning of the claim language by demonstrating how the inventor 10 understood the invention and whether the inventor limited the invention in the course of 11 prosecution, making the claim scope narrower than it would otherwise be.” Phillips, 415 F.3d at 12 1317 (citing Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1582-83); see also Chimie v. PPG Indus., Inc., 402 F.3d 1371, 13 1384 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (“The purpose of consulting the prosecution history in construing a claim is 14 to exclude any interpretation that was disclaimed during prosecution.”) (internal quotations 15 omitted). 16 In most situations, analysis of this intrinsic evidence alone will resolve claim construction 17 disputes, Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1583; however, a court can further consult “trustworthy extrinsic 18 evidence” to compare its construction to “widely held understandings in the pertinent technical 19 field,” Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1309 (Fed. Cir. 1999). 20 Extrinsic evidence “consists of all evidence external to the patent and prosecution history, 21 including expert and inventor testimony, dictionaries, and learned treatises.” Markman, 52 F.3d at 22 980. All extrinsic evidence should be evaluated in light of the intrinsic evidence, Phillips, 415 23 F.3d at 1319, and courts should not rely on extrinsic evidence in claim construction to contradict 24 the meaning of claims discernible from examination of the claims, the written description, and the 25 prosecution history, Pitney Bowes, 182 F.3d at 1308 (citing Vitronics, 90 F.3d at 1583). 26 DISCUSSION 27 OZCO and Simpson have reached agreement on the appropriate constructions for the 1 Claim Term Agreed Construction 2 “annular surface” “a ring-shaped surface between two circles” 3 “cap” “a closed cover” “extending uniformly from and 4 “disposed radially” perpendicular to a straight line running 5 through the center of the washer/nut member” 6 “flange portion” “a projecting edge” 7 “plurality” “two or more” 8 The “cap,” “screw,” and “nut-and-washer “cap,” “screw,” and “nut-and-washer member” member” are separate elements 9 I. THE ’007 PATENT 10 The parties disagree over the appropriate constructions for the following terms from the 11 ’007 Patent. 12 A.

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Bluebook (online)
Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc v. Oz-Post International, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simpson-strong-tie-company-inc-v-oz-post-international-llc-cand-2020.