Zenon Environmental, Inc. v. United States Filter Corp.

506 F.3d 1370, 85 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1118, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 25892, 2007 WL 3275025
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedNovember 7, 2007
Docket19-1256
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 506 F.3d 1370 (Zenon Environmental, Inc. v. United States Filter Corp.) 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
Zenon Environmental, Inc. v. United States Filter Corp., 506 F.3d 1370, 85 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1118, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 25892, 2007 WL 3275025 (Fed. Cir. 2007).

Opinions

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge NEWMAN.

LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

United States Filter Corp. (“US Filter”) appeals from the final judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, following a bench trial, that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent 6,620,319 (“the '319 patent”) are not invalid as anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102. Zenon Environmental, Inc. (“Zenon”) cross-appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment that the accused products do not infringe the '319 patent. Because we conclude that the district court erred in determining that the '319 patent was entitled to the priority date of an earlier filed patent, and thus clearly erred in concluding that the '319 patent was not anticipated by that patent, we reverse the court’s judgment of no invalidity and hold that patent to be invalid. In light of that conclusion, we need not reach Zenon’s cross-appeal seeking reversal of the district court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement.

BACKGROUND

Zenon owns the '319 patent entitled “Apparatus for Withdrawing Permeate Using An Immersed Vertical Skein of Hollow [Fiber] Membranes.” The patent relates to the field of water treatment and filtration systems and is directed to “relatively large systems for the microfiltration of liquids.” '319 patent col.2 ll.47-48. The patent discloses the use of a vertical skein, which the patent describes as “an integrated combination of structural elements including (i) a multiplicity of vertical fibers of substantially equal length; (ii) a pair of headers in each of which are potted the opposed terminal portions of the fibers so as to leave their ends open; and, (iii) permeate collection means held peripherally in fluid-tight engagement with each header so as to collect permeate from the ends of the fibers.” Id. at col.1 ll.31-38 (emphases added).

As disclosed in the patent, a skein of hollow fiber membranes is submerged within the substrate, ie., the liquid feed containing the unwanted particulate matter. The fibers filter the substrate using a process called an outside-in flow. Id. at col.4 ll.30-33. During that process, “[t]he feed of substrate is introduced externally of the fibers,” which are made of porous or semipermeable materials, and is “resolved into ‘permeate’ and ‘concentrate’ streams.” Id. A permeate collection means is used to collect permeate from the ends of the fibers. The '319 patent describes the importance of keeping the surface of the fibers free of particulate matter, which generally includes micron-sized and submi-[1373]*1373cron-sized organic or inorganic matter, id. at col.1 ll.46-53, in order to ensure the free flow of permeate over an extended period of time, thereby reducing the frequency with which the fibers must be cleaned. Id. at col.5 ll.46-56.

In order to achieve that objective, the patent discloses using “a cleansing gas, typically air, discharged near the base of a skein to produce bubbles in a specified size range, and in an amount large enough to scrub the fibers, and to cause the fibers to scrub themselves against one another.” Id. at col.2 ll.51-55. It is the “scrubbing force exerted by the bubbles on the fibers, [that] keeps their surfaces sufficiently free of attached microorganisms and deposits of inanimate particles to provide a relatively high and stable flow of permeate over many weeks, if not months of operation.” Id. at col.5 ll.49-53. Thus, the '319 patent discloses that “the most preferred use of the skein as a membrane device is in a bank, in combination with a gas-distribution means, which is typically used to distribute air, or oxygen-enriched air between the fibers, from within the skein, or between adjacent skeins, at the bases thereof.” Id. at col.7 ll.21-25. An illustration of a pair of skeins in combination with a gas-distribution means is shown in Figure 10 of the '319 patent:

[[Image here]]

The pair of skeins 40 and 40' consists of upper and lower headers, 41 u and 41 u’ and 41 b and 41 b’, respectively, vertical fibers 42 and 42', and permeate collection means 46u and 46b. The skeins share a common gas-distribution means 50, which is preferably split into two aims 51 and 51'. Id. at col.25 ll.8-9.

Claims 7-12 are the asserted claims of the '319 patent. Claim 7, the only independent asserted claim, reads as follows:

7. An apparatus for treating a multi-component liquid substrate while leaving particulate matter therein, comprising, (a) a non-pressurized reservoir for containing the substrate;
(b) a plurality of hollow fiber filtering membranes immersed in the substrate wherein the membranes are disposed generally vertically between upper and lower headers such that (i) outsides of ends of the membranes are sealingly secured to the headers in a closely [1374]*1374spaced apart relationship, (ii) lumens of the membranes are in fluid communication with at least one permeate collection means, and, (iii) said membranes having a length between opposed surfaces of the headers such that the membranes may move against each other but wherein the length is less [than] 5% greater than the distance between opposed surfaces of the headers;
(c) a pump in fluid communication with said lumens of said membranes, said pump operable to apply a suction to the lumens of the membranes to draw a component of the substrate as permeate through said membranes; and,
(d) a gas distribution system having through-passages through the lower header to discharge bubbles into the substrate above the lower header.

'319 patent claim 7 (emphasis added). Thus, a particular type of gas-distribution means, viz., one that requires through-passages through the lower header to discharge bubbles into the substrate above the lower header, is present in all of the asserted claims. Figure 6 of the '319 patent depicts an example of that type of gas distribution means:

[[Image here]]

Figure 6 depicts a single skein 110, in which air tubes 103 traverse the integral header 101 with a thickness L1-L2. '319 patent col.19 l.62-col.20 l.22. As seen from the illustration, air passes through the air tubes and escapes above the top surface of the header L2. The fibers 12 are secured in the header and are positioned above a permeate pan 120, which is used to collect permeate from the fibers.

The '319 patent is the sixth patent to issue from a series of connected applications that were filed by the same assignee. As set forth in column one of the '319 patent, that patent is a:

continuation of Ser. No. 09/507,438, filed Feb. 19, 2000 issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,039 [“the '039 patent”]; which is a division of Ser. No. 09/258,999, filed Feb. 26, 1999, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,-677 [“the '677 patent”]; which is a division of Ser. No. 08/896,517, filed Jun. 16, 1997, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,250 [“the '250 patent”]; which is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 08/690,045, filed Jul. 31, 1996, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,083 [“the '083 patent”] which is a non-provisional of provisional application Ser. No. 60/012,921 filed Mar. 5, 1996 and a continuation-inpart of Ser. No. 08/514,119, filed Aug.

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506 F.3d 1370, 85 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1118, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 25892, 2007 WL 3275025, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zenon-environmental-inc-v-united-states-filter-corp-cafc-2007.