Aquatex Indus., Inc. v. Techniche Solutions

This case was previously before us in AquaTex Industries, Inc. v. Techniche Solutions, 419 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2005). We held that claims 1 and 9 of U.S. Patent No. 6,371,977 (“the ’977 patent”) were not literally infringed, but we did not foreclose a finding of infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. We remanded for “the trial court [to] consider whether or not each limitation of the claims in dispute, or its equivalent, is present in the accused Techniche products.” Id. at 1383. On remand the district court granted summary judgment of non-infringement, and the plaintiff patent holder AquaTex Industries, Inc. (“AquaTex”) now appeals. We hold that the district court erred in finding the doctrine of equivalents barred by prosecution history estoppel and in relying on unclaimed features to find a lack of equivalents. However, we affirm the grant of summary judgment because AquaTex did not satisfy its burden to present particularized evidence of equivalents in opposition to the motion for summary judgment.

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