Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd. v. Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc.

Filing 195

MEMORANDUM ORDER re 141 MOTION for Additional Claim Construction. Signed by Judge Colm F. Connolly on 3/26/2021. (nmf)

Case 1:18-cv-00313-CFC-CJB Document 195 Filed 03/26/21 Page 1 of 5 PageID #: 5028

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELA WARE
KOKI HOLDINGS CO., LTD.,

Plaintiff,

v.

Civil Action No. 18-313-CFC

KYOCERA SENCO INDUSTRIAL
TOOLS, INC.,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM ORDER
PlaintiffKoki Holdings Co., Ltd. has requested that I construe the terms
"cross-sectional area of the main valve control channel" in claim 1 of U.S. Patent
No. 7,156,012 (the #012 patent) 1 and "cross-sectional area of the first channel" in
claims 1 and 10 of U.S. Patent No. 7,398,647 (the #647 patent). DJ. 141 at 1.
Defendant Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools, Inc. does not oppose Koki's request.
DJ. 141 at 1.
Claim 1 of the #012 patent recites
[a] fastener driving tool comprising:

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The term is also found in claims 2, 3, and 4 of the #012 patent, but I recently
found those claims invalid for indefiniteness. DJ. 194.

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a main valve chamber section defining therein a main
valve chamber in which the main valve is movably
disposed, the main valve chamber providing a
maximum internal volume;
A main valve control channel section defining therein a
main valve control channel that provides a fluid
connection between the main valve chamber and the
trigger valve, the main valve control channel having a
cross-sectional area, a ratio obtained from dividing the
maximum internal volume of the main valve chamber
measured in m 3 by the cross-sectional area of the
main valve control channel measured in m 2 being not
more than 1.0
(emphasis added).
Claim 1 of the #64 7 patent recites
[a] fastener driving tool comprising:
a main valve section deposed in the frame and having a
main valve movable between a top dead center and a
bottom dead center to alternatively open an block
fluid communication between the piston upper
chamber and the accumulator, a main valve chamber
being defined by an upper surface of the main valve
and a part of the frame;
a first channel providing a fluid communication between
the main valve chamber and the trigger valve section;
wherein a ratio obtained from dividing a maximum
internal volume of the main valve chamber measured
in m 3 by a cross sectional area of the first channel
measured in m2 is no greater than O. 8
(emphasis added).

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Koki contends that "the cross-sectional area of the first [or main valve
control] channel" means the cross-sectional area of a single channel. D.I. 141 at 4;
D.I. 176 at 2. Kyocera contends that the disputed terms mean the cross-sectional
area of one or more channels. D.I. 162 at 20. In other words, Koki argues that the
contested terms require that the ratio limitation recited in the claims be calculated
using the cross-sectional area of only a single channel. D.I. 176 at 2. And
Kyocera argues that the recited ratio is calculated using a cross-sectional area of
one or more channels.
There is an actual dispute concerning the meaning of the identified terms,
and accordingly I will construe them. See 02 Micro Int'l Ltd. v. Beyond

Innovation Tech. Co., 521 F.3d 1351, 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2008). The parties set forth
their views on the construction of the contested terms in their summary judgment
briefing. See D.I. 137 at 12-17; D.I 162 at 15-20; D.I. 176 at 2-7.
In my view, the language of the claims supports Koki's proposed
construction. The preposition "of' in the term "the cross-sectional area of the main
valve control channel" correlates the claimed "cross-sectional area" with "the main
valve control channel" (singular) not with "the main valve control channels"
(plural). Similarly, "of' in the term "a cross-sectional area of the first channel"
correlates the claimed "cross-sectional area" with "the first channel" (singular) not

with "the first channels" (plural). Nothing in the claim language suggests that the

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claimed cross-sectional area is to be calculated by adding together numerous crosssectional areas of numerous channels.
Kyocera argues that the Federal Circuit "has repeatedly emphasized that an
indefinite article "a" or "an" in patent parlance carries the meaning of "one or
more" in open-ended claims containing the transitional phrase "comprising," D.I.
162 at 15 (quoting KCJ Corp. v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., 223 F.3d 1351, 1356 (Fed.
Cir. 2000)), and that the earlier references in the claims to "a first channel" and "a
main valve control channel" must therefore mean that there are "one or more"
channels, id. But this argument misses the point. It is undisputed that there can be
more than one "first channel," more than one "main valve control channel," and
even more than one "cross-sectional area." What the parties dispute is the
correlation between the claimed cross-sectional areas and the claimed channels.
The use of the prepositional phrase "of the" followed by the singular "channel" in
the disputed terms makes clear that each and any cross-sectional area is to be
calculated separately for each and any channel.
The written description shared by the #012 and #647 discloses only
exemplary non-limiting embodiments that are not inconsistent with either of the
constructions proposed by the parties. Accordingly, it does not aid in construing in
the construction analysis.

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NOW THEREFORE, at Wilmington this Twenty-sixth day of March in
2021, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that "cross-sectional area of the main valve
control channel" in U.S. Patent No. 7,156,012 means "cross-sectional area of a
single main valve control channel" and IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that "crosssectional area of the first channel" in U.S. Patent No. 7,398,647 means "crosssectional area of a single first channel."

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