Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports

Cat Tech LLC v. Tubemaster

Cat Tech LLC (“Cat Tech”) appeals the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas holding that none of four configurations of loading devices manufactured by TubeMaster, Inc. (“TubeMaster”) infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,905,660 (the “’660 patent”). We conclude that the district court correctly construed the “spacing” element of claims 3-7 of the ’660 patent and that the dispute was sufficiently real and immediate to warrant a declaratory judgment of non-infringement. We therefore affirm.

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Helmsderfer v. Bobrick Washroom Equip., Inc.

Plaintiffs-Appellants, John A. Helmsderfer and Brocar Products, Inc. (collectively Brocar) appeal the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio holding that Defendants-Appellees, Bobrick Washroom Equipment, Inc., BWA South Company, Inc., Target Sales and Marketing, LLC, and Patterson Case Associates, Inc. (collectively Bobrick) did not infringe claims 6 and 7 of Brocar’s U.S. Patent No. 6,049,928 (the ’928 patent). We affirm.

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Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Bancorp Services, LLC

Appellants Bancorp Services, L.L.C., and Benefit Finance Partners, L.L.C., (collectively “Bancorp”) appeal the order of the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granting summary judgment that appellee Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”) did not infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,926,792 (“the '792 patent”).

We conclude that the district court, in granting summary judgment of noninfringement, properly construed the phrase “calculating surrender value protected investment credits” (“SVPICs”) as meaning that “the accused system or method must calculate the difference between the ‘book value’ and the ‘market value,’” of a stable value insurance policy. Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Bancorp Servs. L.L.C., No. 4:00-CV-1927, slip op. at 5 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 13, 2006) (“MetLife II”). However, we also conclude that the district court erred in denying additional discovery and that, even on the present record, Bancorp raised a genuine issue of material fact as to the issue of infringement. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of noninfringement and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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