freal Foods LLC et al v. Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. et al
Filing
353
MEMORANDUM ORDER denying 295 MOTION for Judgment as a Matter of Law Defendants' Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law of Noninfringement or, in the Alternative, Motion for a New Trial on Infringement, of Claims 1, 5, 6, 10, and 11 of the '658 Patent and Claim 22 of the '150 Patent. Signed by Judge Colm F. Connolly on 4/30/2020. (nmf)
Case 1:16-cv-00041-CFC Document 353 Filed 04/30/20 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 15156
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
F'REAL FOODS, LLC and RICH
PRODUCTS CORPORATION,
Plaintiff,
Civil Action No. 16-41-CFC
V.
HAMILTON BEACH BRANDS,
INC. and HERSHEY CREAMERY
CO:MPANY,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Pending before me is Defendants' Renewed Motion for Judgment as a
Matter of Law ofNoninfringement or, in the Alternative, Motion for a New Trial
on Infringement of Claims 1, 5, 6, 10, and 11 of the '658 Patent and Claim 22 of
the '150 Patent (D.I. 295).
The jury found among other things that four accused products (high
perfonnance blenders) literally infringed claims 6, 10, and 11 of the #658 Patent,
infringed claims 1 and 5 of the #658 Patent under the doctrine of equivalents, and
infringed claim 22 of the #150 Patent under the doctrine of equivalents.
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I.
Legal Standards
"If the court does not grant a motion for judgment as a matter of law made
under Rule S0(a) ... the movant may file a renewed motion for judgment as a
matter of law and may include an alternative or joint request for a new trial under
Rule 59." Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b). Upon a Rule 50(b) motion, a jury verdict should
be overturned "only if, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the
nonmovant and giving it the advantage of every fair and reasonable inference,
there is insufficient evidence from which a jury reasonably could find liability."
Fultz v. Dunn, 165 F.3d 215,218 (3d Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
Rule 59(a) permits a district court judge, "on motion," to grant a new trial
"for any reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at
law in federal court." Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a). A district court therefore has the
discretion to order a new trial when the verdict is contrary to the evidence, a
miscarriage of justice would result if the jury's verdict were left to stand, or the
court believes the verdict resulted from confusion. Cf Blancha v. Raymark Indus.,
972 F .2d 507, 512 (3d Cir. 1992) ("Where a new trial has been granted on the basis
that the jury's verdict was tainted by confusion or that a new trial is required to
prevent injustice, [the Court of Appeals] reviews [the district court's ruling] for
abuse of discretion").
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II.
Analysis
In support of the pending motion, Defendants first argue that the splash
shields of the accused products do not meet the "sufficient mass" and
"unrestrained" limitations of claims 6, 10, and 11 of the #658 Patent and therefore
the accused products do not literally infringe those claims. See D.I. 298 at 12. In
the context of these patents, the term "splash shield" means "lid for the cup
opening." D.I. 76, Ex. A. The splash shield covers the cup to keep the contents of
the cup from splashing out while the contents are blended. The part of the accused
products that Plaintiffs allege is a splash shield consists of a plastic lid that covers
the cup, a weight on top of the lid, and guide rods that help place the lid on top of
the cup. Whether the splash shields of the accused products are of sufficient mass
and are unrestrained such that they literally infringe claims 6, 10, and 11 turns on
whether the accused products' guide rods and weights are considered part of the
splash shield. Defendants raised this issue at summary judgment. I held then that
whether the guide rods and weights are part of the splash shields was a material
factual dispute that needed to be resolved by the jury. See D.l. 244 at 3-4.
There was substantial evidence presented about this issue at trial. Plaintiffs'
expert testified that to one of ordinary skill in the art the guide rods and weight are
part of the splash shield, see, e.g., Trial Tr. at 590: 16-20; Defendants' expert
testified to the opposite, see, e.g., Trial Tr. at 826:12-827:11. By finding literal
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infringement, the jury necessarily determined that the guide rods and the weight
are part of the splash shields. In light of Plaintiffs' expert's testimony, there was
not "insufficient evidence from which [the] jury reasonably could find liability[,]"
Fultz v. Dunn, 165 F.3d 215, 218 (3d Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
Defendants next argue that it was improper for the jury to find that the
accused products' splash shields (including the guide rods and weight) were the
equivalent of the splash shield claimed in claims 1 and 5 of the #658 Patent and
claim 22 of the #150 Patent under the doctrine of equivalents. But the jury heard
testimony that supported a finding that the splash shields of the accused products
were equivalent to the splash shields claimed. For example, in reference to the
weight in the accused products Plaintiffs' expert testified:
So this shield looks different than the freal shield, but it
functions the same way. These rods move up and down
through bushings down through this hole in the middle.
Through the middle of the splash shield is the mixing
element, and so this entire assembly moves up and down
together. We've just displaced the weight. The weight in
this case is mounted up above the splash shield.
Trial Tr. at 521:16-22. Accordingly, I do not find that there was insufficient
evidence from which the jury reasonably could have found that the splash shields
in the accused products were the equivalent of the splash shields claimed in the
patents.
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Defendants next argue that the disclosure-dedication doctrine precludes
Plaintiffs' doctrine of equivalents claims as a matter of law. In support of this
argument, Defendants state that the "provisional application, from which the '150
and '658 patents claim priority, disclosed 'use [of] a heavy weight to hold the
shield and cup in place' that was apart from the shield." D.I. 298 at 22 (quoting
D.I. 233, Ex. 17 at Ex. B) (alteration in original). The provisional application in
question disclosed:
The shield can also be held down by a spring to ensure a
tight seal, and to secure the cup it is in contact with into
the holder holding the cup.
Another approach to this is to use a heavy weight to hold
the shield and cup in place.
D.I. 233, Ex. 17 at Ex. B. Although one might read this to say that the disclosed
weight is apart from the shield, that is not a necessary reading of this disclosure.
The disclosure-dedication rule "does not mean that any generic reference in
a written [description] necessarily dedicates all members of that particular genus to
the public." SanDisk Corp. v. Kingston Tech. Co., Inc., 695 F.3d 1348, 1363--64
(Fed. Cir. 2012). Rather, "the disclosure must be of such specificity that one of
ordinary skill in the art could identify the subject matter that had been disclosed
and not claimed." Id. Here, a generic disclosure to the use of a "weight to hold the
shield and cup in place" does not dedicate all uses of weights to the public.
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Defendants also argue that infringement under the doctrine of equivalents is
precluded by prosecution history estoppel. I addressed this argument before trial:
To the extent that Defendants seek to invoke prosecution
history estoppel with respect to the "unrestrained" and
"sufficient mass" limitations in U.S. Patent No. 7,520,658,
the Court has already explained that "the narrowing
amendments in question
were made to distinguish
prior art that disclosed a sp1ing mechanism and therefore
are inapposite."
• []
D.l. 251 at~ 3 (alteration in original). Defendants have not made any new
arguments on this point. Accordingly, I stand by the rationale I articulated
previously and reject Defendants' prosecution history estoppel argument.
Finally, Defendants argue that infringement under the doctrine of
equivalents is precluded by claim vitiation. Defendants, however, do not explain
their claim vitiation argument but instead appear to rehash arguments about the
insufficiency of the factual record. See D.I. 298 at 23-24. Accordingly, I reject
Defendants' claim vitiation argument.
****
WHEREFORE, this 30th day of April 2020, Defendants' Renewed Motion
for Judgment as a Matter of Law ofNoninfringement or, in the Alternative, Motion
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for a New Trial on Infringement of Claims 1, 5, 6, 10, and 11 of the '658 Patent
and Claim 22 of the ' 150 Patent (D.I. 295) is DENIED.
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