Wonderland Nurserygoods Co. v. Thorley Industries, LLC

988 F. Supp. 2d 479, 2013 WL 6731899, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177931
District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania·Decided December 19, 2013·No. Civil Action No. 12-196·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

NORA BARRY FISCHER, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Wonderland Nursery Goods Co. (“Wonderland”) brings this action' against Defendant Thorley Industries, LLC d/b/a 4MOMS (“Thorley”) for the alleged infringement of U.S. Patent No. 8,047,609 (the “'609 Patent”) (filed Dec. 3, 2010), (Docket No. 1-2 at 2). The '609 Patent is entitled “Infant Rocking Chair and Driving Device for Driving the Same.” Id., (Docket No. 1-2 at 2). Presently pending before the Court are three motions for summary judgment, consisting of Thorley’s Motion for Summary Judgment of Invalidity of Claims 12-14 and 19-20, (Docket No. 108), and the parties’ Cross Motions for Summary Judgment of Non-Infringement, (Docket No. 104), and Infringement, (Docket No. 95), of the aforementioned claims. Upon consideration of the parties’ positions, and for the following reasons, these Motions are GRANTED, in part and DENIED, in part; they are GRANTED as to non-infringement of Claims 12-14 only, in favor of Thorley, and DENIED in all other respects.

II. BACKGROUND

Wonderland brings this action against Thorley based on the alleged infringement of Claims 12-14 and 19-20 of the '609 Patent by the accused mamaRoo variable motion infant rocking chair. (Docket No. 1 at 1-2). Wonderland, the assignee of the '609 Patent, is a Taiwanese company that manufactures products for infants and young children, such as baby strollers, play-yards, car safety seats, and highchairs. See Hampton Rep. at 6, (Docket No. 114-1 at 10). Thorley is a Pennsylvania corporation based in Pittsburgh that manufactures and sells the mamaRoo and other infant products. (Docket No. 19 at 2-3). The Court provides a brief summary of the '609 Patent, the relevant prior art references, and the accused mamaRoo device.

A. The '609 Patent

The '609' Patent is directed at “infant rocking chairs,” with “a driving device for driving a seat body of an infant rocking chair to move back and forth as well as up and down.” See '609 Patent col. 111.15-19, (Docket No. 1-2 at 19). The patent discloses that “conventional infant rocking chairs” produce only “back-and-forth” or “up-and-down” motion, whereas a “curved [484] swinging motion in which a baek-and-forth motion is combined with an up-and-down motion” is preferable to “impart greater comfort to the infant.” Id. col. 1 11.21-27, (Docket No. 1-2 at 19).

The '609 Patent has three independent claims: 1,12, and 19. Claims 1 and 19 and their dependent claims are directed at a “driving device for an infant rocking chair.” Id. col. 6 1.48, col. 8 1.39, (Docket No. 1-2 at 21-22). Claim 12 and its dependent claims reach “an infant rocking chair.” Id. col. 7 1.59, (Docket No. 1-2 at 22). The specification describes three preferred embodiments in a Summary of the Invention, id. col. 1 1.32 to col. 2 1.48, (Docket No. 1-2 at 19), and a Detailed Description, id. col. 3 1.15 to col. 6. 1.45, (Docket No. 1-2 at 20-21).

Independent Claim 12 is reproduced below:

An infant rocking chair comprising:
a seat body;
a bottom seat;
a base disposed between said seat body and said bottom seat and movable on said bottom seat;
a supporting element connected to said base for supporting said seat body;
a first motion mechanism disposed between said base and said bottom seat for driving said base to move back and forth on said bottom seat; and
a second motion mechanism disposed between said supporting element and said bottom seat for driving said supporting element to move up and down relative to said base.

See '609 Patent col. 7 1.59 to col. 8 1.11, (Docket No. 1-2 at 22) (emphasis added). In its Claim Construction Order, (Docket No. 59), the Court defined the term “infant rocking chair” to denote “a seat or chair-like device that is designed to hold an infant and which moves or sways back and forth.” The Court also construed the claim term “bottom seat” to be “a structure at the bottom of an object upon which the object sits or rests.” Id. As for the claim term “motion mechanism,” the parties stipulated to the definition of “a combination of machine parts.” See Revised (and corrected) Joint Disputed Claim Terms Chart, (Docket No. 46). The parties also agreed that no claim construction was necessary for the claim terms: “for driving” and “between.” See id.

Claim 14, which is dependent on Claim 12, further includes, among other elements, a “second pair of guiding elements spaced apart from each other.” See '609 Patent col. 8 11.18-24, (Docket No. 1-2 at 22). During claim construction, the Court construed “guiding elements” to denote “a set of tracks which direct movement.” Claim Construction Order, (Docket No. 59).

Independent Claim 19 is also reproduced below:

A driving device for an infant rocking chair, the infant rocking chair including a seat body and a bottom seat, said driving device comprising:
a base adapted to be disposed between the seat body and the bottom seat;
a supporting element connected to said base and adapted to support the seat body;
a first motion mechanism including a horizontal first guide path unit adapted to be disposed at the bottom seat, and a first movable member disposed on said base and movable along said first guide path unit; and
a second motion mechanism adapted to be disposed between the seat body and the bottom seat for driving said supporting element to move up and [485] down relative to said first movable member.

See '609 Patent col. 8 11.39-59, (Docket No. 1-2 at 22) (emphasis added). As with the claim term “for driving,” the parties did not seek claim construction of the term “driving device.” See Revised (and corrected) Joint Disputed Claim Terms Chart, (Docket No. 46).

B. Prior Art References

Thorley first asserts that U.S. Patent No. 5,022,708 (“Nordella”) (filed Nov. 16, 1989) anticipates the '609 Patent.1 See Nordella, (Docket No. 111-2). Nordella is a “Mechanical Seat Apparatus for Simulating Motion” that includes a “novel spherical bearing located below each seat for providing realistic simulation of motion in the yaw, pitch and roll directions.” Id. at 2, (Docket No. 111-2 at 2). The supporting structure of Nordella “enables movement of each seat in the backward and forward, side to side, and upward and downward directions.” Id. Nordella provides “[c]ommon hydraulics” to “simultaneously impart motion to a plurality of seats.” Id.

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Wonderland Nurserygoods Co. v. Thorley Industries, LLC, 988 F. Supp. 2d 479, 2013 WL 6731899, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177931 (W.D. Pa. 2013).

988 F. Supp. 2d 479 (Wonderland Nurserygoods Co. v. Thorley Industries, LLC) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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