Zenith Electronics Corp. v. PDI Communication Systems, Inc.

522 F.3d 1348, 86 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1513, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 8128, 2008 WL 1734195
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedApril 16, 2008
Docket2007-1288, 2007-1321
StatusPublished
Cited by75 cases

This text of 522 F.3d 1348 (Zenith Electronics Corp. v. PDI Communication Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zenith Electronics Corp. v. PDI Communication Systems, Inc., 522 F.3d 1348, 86 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1513, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 8128, 2008 WL 1734195 (Fed. Cir. 2008).

Opinion

SCHALL, Circuit Judge.

This is a patent infringement case. Two patents are at issue: United States Patent No. 5,495,301 (the “'301 patent”) and United States Patent No. 5,502,513 (the “'513 patent”). Both patents are owned by Zenith Electronics Corporation (“Zenith”). ■ The '301 and '513 patents generally relate to televisions and wired remote control devices used in hospital rooms.

*1352 Zenith appeals from the final judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in favor of PDI Communications Systems, Inc. (“PDI”) in Zenith’s suit against PDI for infringement of the '301 and '513 patents. The district court entered judgment in favor of PDI after granting summary judgment of (1) invalidity of claim 1 of the '301 patent and claim 1 of the '513 patent by reason of anticipation; (2) noninfringement of the '301 patent; and (3) noninfringement of claim 1 of the '513 patent. Zenith Elecs. Corp. v. PDI Commc’n Sys., Inc., No. 04-C-4796, slip op. at 1 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 21, 2007) (“Order Entering Judgment”); Zenith Elecs. Corp. v. PDI Commc’n Sys., Inc., No. 04-C-4796, slip op. at 39-40 (N.D.Ill. Jan. 18, 2007) (“Summary Judgment Order”). For its part, PDI cross-appeals the district court’s (1) dismissal without prejudice of PDI’s counterclaim of inequitable conduct with respect to the '301 patent and claim 1 of the '513 patent and (2) dismissal with prejudice of PDI’s counterclaim of inequitable conduct with respect to claims 2-8 of the '513 patent. Order Entering Judgment at 2; Summary Judgment Order at 39-40. PDI also cross-appeals the district court’s denial of its motion for costs. Zenith Elecs. Corp. v. PDI Commc’n Sys., Inc., No. 04-C-4796 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 28, 2007).

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court’s (1) grant of summary judgment of invalidity of claim 1 of the '301 patent; (2) grant of summary judgment of noninfringement of the '301 patent; and (3) dismissal with prejudice of PDI’s counterclaim of inequitable conduct with respect to claims 2-8 of the '513 patent. However, we vacate the district court’s (1) grant of summary judgment of invalidity of claim 1 of the '513 patent; (2) grant of summary judgment of nonin-fringement of claim 1 of the '513 patent; (3) dismissal without prejudice of PDI’s counterclaim of inequitable conduct with respect to the '301 patent and claim 1 of the '513 patent; and (4) denial of PDI’s motion for costs. As far as these matters are concerned, we remand the case to the district court for further proceedings. In sum, we affirm-in-part, vacate-in-part, and remand.

BACKGROUND

I.

Due to various safety and business considerations, wireless remote control devices are not used to control televisions in hospital rooms. First, the electrostatic discharge associated with wireless remote controls cannot be risked near supplies of oxygen. Second, the signals transmitted by wireless remote controls are susceptible to interference from fluorescent lights. Finally, there are increased costs associated with battery replacement and lost wireless remote controls. For these reasons, hospital televisions are typically controlled using hardwired remote control devices placed near the patient. These devices also include internal speakers by which television audio is delivered to the patient and, thus, are interchangeably referred to as “pillow speakers.”

By the late 1980s, pillow speakers were generally connected to televisions in hospital rooms via three wires. Over these three wires (1) power was supplied to the pillow speaker, (2) audio signals were transmitted to the pillow speaker, and (3) control signals were transmitted to the television. However, control functionality was limited due to the fact that existing systems utilized analog control signals. The invention of the patents-in-suit enabled the transmission of encoded digital control signals from the pillow speaker to the television receiver over the existing three-wire interfaces installed in hospital rooms. Advantageously, the improved digital pillow speakers — like their analog

*1353 precursors-continued to receive power from the television and did not require an internal source of power (i.e., a battery). Claim 1, which is representative of the method claims of the '301 patent, provides:

1. A method of operating a television receiver wired to a remote housing including a speaker and a multi function control signal encoder comprising:
supplying operating power to said multi function control signal encoder from the television receiver over first and second wires;
supplying audio signals to said speaker from said television receiver over said first wire and a third wire; and supplying encoded control signals from said multi function encoder to said television receiver over said first and second wires.

Claim 1 of the '513 patent, which is representative of the method claims of that patent, provides:

1. A method of controlling a television receiver in response to a key closure or data pulses received from a remote location over a pair of wires, the key closure having a substantially longer duration than the data pulses, comprising:
receiving said key closure and said data pulses;
decoding said data pulses with a microprocessor programmed to ignore said key closure;
detecting said key closure with a timing circuit; and
operating key closure identification circuitry in response to said timing circuit.

II.

By 1997, three companies — Curbell Electronics (“Curbell”), MedTek, Inc. (“MedTek”), and Crest Electronics (“Crest”) — manufactured and distributed digital pillow speakers pursuant to licenses of the '301 patent obtained from Zenith. The pillow speakers were specifically designed to operate Zenith televisions using Zenith control codes.

In 2003, PDI began marketing a new 20-inch LCD television (model no. “P20LCD”) for use in the healthcare industry. PDI designed the P20LCD television for compatibility with digital pillow speakers that used Zenith control codes-i.e., the digital pillow speakers manufactured by Curbell, MedTek, and Crest. On July 21, 2004, Zenith filed a complaint against PDI in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging infringement of claims 1-4 of the '301 patent 1 and claims 1-8 of the '513 patent. Zenith maintained that PDI directly infringes by testing and operating its P20LCD televisions with pillow speakers and that PDI indirectly infringes by supplying P20LCD televisions and encouraging its customers to operate the televisions using pillow speakers. In addition to pursuing affirmative defenses, PDI counterclaimed for a declaration that the '301 and '513 patents are invalid due to anticipation, unenforceable because of inequitable conduct, and not infringed by the P20LCD.

III.

After the close of discovery, both parties filed motions for summary judgment.

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522 F.3d 1348, 86 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1513, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 8128, 2008 WL 1734195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zenith-electronics-corp-v-pdi-communication-systems-inc-cafc-2008.