Legler v. Exxel Outdoors Inc

Filing 23

ORDER DISMISSING CASE signed by Judge Rudolph T. Randa on 7/29/2014. 15 Defendant's MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim GRANTED. (cc: all counsel)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
JAMIE LEGLER,
Plaintiff,
-vs-

Case No. 13-C-668

EXXEL OUTDOORS, Inc.,
Defendant.

DECISION AND ORDER

Jamie Legler is the sole owner of a design patent for a transportable and
compactible sleep mat and cot cover for children, Patent No. D440,806, depicted here:

Legler alleges that Exxel Outdoors, Inc. manufactures and sells a product under
the trade name “Inflatabed” which infringes the „806 patent.
essentially, a sleeping bag on top of an air mattress:

The Inflatabed is,

Exxel moves to dismiss for failure to state a claim. To survive a motion to
dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “state a
claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)
(citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim has facial
plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the Court to draw a
reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Id. All wellpleaded allegations in the plaintiff‟s complaint are accepted as true, and all reasonable
inferences are drawn in her favor. Navarro v. Neal, 716 F.3d 425, 429 (7th Cir. 2013).
Legler attached a side-by-side comparison of the accused Inflatabed with the
fourteen figures in the „806 patent to her amended complaint. ECF No. 12-1. The Court
can, and will, consider this exhibit. See, e.g., Anderson v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., --- Fed.
App‟x ---, 2014 WL 3361130, at *3 (Fed. Cir. July 10, 2014). The Court can also take
judicial notice of the „806 patent and the prior art referenced therein. Id.; Geinosky v.
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City of Chi., 675 F.3d 743, 745, n.1 (7th Cir. 2012) (a Rule 12(b)(6) motion “can be
based only on the complaint itself, documents attached to the complaint, documents that
are critical to the complaint and referred to in it, and information that is subject to proper
judicial notice”).
Determining whether a design patent is infringed requires (1) construction of the
patent claim, and (2) comparison of the construed claim to the accused product.
Contessa Food Products, Inc. v. Conagra, Inc., 282 F.3d 1370, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2002).
Regarding claim construction, the “requirement that the court construe disputed claim
language, as applied to design patents, must be adapted to the practice that a patented
design is claimed as shown in its drawing. There is usually no description of the design
in words.” Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Hercules Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., 162 F.3d
1113, 1116 (Fed. Cir. 1998). As for infringement, the Court must analyze whether “an
ordinary observer, familiar with the prior art designs, would be deceived into believing
that the accused product is the same as the patented design.” Crocs, Inc. v. Int’l Trade
Comm’n, 598 F.3d 1294, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (citing Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa,
Inc., 543 F.3d 665, 678 (Fed. Cir. 2008)).
The formal claim of the „806 patent is the “ornamental design for a transportable
and compactible sleep mat and cot cover for children, as shown and described.” The
drawing of the patent is depicted in fourteen figures. Half of the figures show the mat in
a compacted state (as in Figure 1, above); the other half show the mat in its un-compacted
state (as in Figure 8, above). The figures depict the mat from various angles. Thus, the
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Court construes the claim by reference to the figures in the patent and without a detailed
verbal claim construction. Crocs, 598 F.3d at 1302-03 (“an illustration depicts a design
better than it could be by any description and a description would probably not be
intelligible without the illustration. As a rule, the illustration in the drawing views is its
own best description”); Egyptian Goddess, 543 F.3d at 679 (“the court is not obligated to
issue a detailed verbal description of the design if it does not regard verbal elaboration as
necessary or helpful”).
Legler apparently concedes that the Inflatabed does not infringe her patent if the
claim is construed as in the preceding paragraph. However, Legler argues that the Court
must limit its construction to the “novel, ornamental features of the patented design.”
OddzOn Prods., Inc. v. Just Toys, Inc., 122 F.3d 1396, 1405 (Fed. Cir. 1997). According
to Legler, the handle and flaps with fasteners on the claimed design are driven purely by
utility and are essential to the use and purpose of the mat because they facilitate efficient
compacting and transporting of the sleep mat. Legler claims that when she created the
patented design she included the handle, fasteners and flaps for the sole purpose of
making the mat compactible and easy to carry, and she did not select these elements for
any decorative or aesthetic purpose.

Thus, Legler argues that her claim should be

construed as “A Transportable and Compactable Sleep Mat of Certain Design as Shown
in Figures 1-14 Without the Handle and Flaps with Fasteners.”
Legler‟s assertion is dubious, for a variety of reasons. First, the handle, fasteners
and flaps are all depicted using solid lines. “If features appearing in the figures are not
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desired to be claimed, the patentee is permitted to show the features in broken lines to
exclude those features from the claimed design, and the failure to do so signals inclusion
of the features in the claimed design.” Contessa, 282 F.3d at 1378. Second, without the
handle, fasteners and flaps, Legler‟s design would be left with “no purely ornamental
features that merit patent protection.” Metrokane, Inc. v. Wine Enthusiast, 185 F. Supp.
2d 321, 327 (S.D.N.Y. 2002).
In any event, the design of a useful article is functional “when the appearance of
the claimed design is „dictated by‟ the use or purpose of the article. If the particular
design is essential to the use of the article, it cannot be the subject of a design patent.”
L.A. Gear, Inc. v. Thom Mcan Shoe Co., 988 F.2d 1117, 1123 (Fed. Cir. 1993). On the
other hand, the elements of a design “may indeed serve a utilitarian purpose, but it is the
ornamental aspect that is the basis of the design patent.”

Id.

To receive patent

protection, the design “must not be governed solely by function, i.e., that this is not the
only possible form of the article that could perform its function.” Rosco, Inc. v. Mirror
Lite Co., 304 F.3d 1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2002). “When there are several ways to achieve
the function of an article of manufacture, the design of the article is more likely to serve a
primarily ornamental purpose.” L.A. Gear at 1123.
As the prior art confirms, there are several other ways to make a mat
“compactible” and “transportable.” First, Patent No. D401,736 depicts a bed roll for
children in its un-compacted and compacted states. See ECF No. 17-2, Figures 1 and 8.
The bed is simply rolled into a cylinder-like shape, held together with straps, and carried
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with a handle:

Next, Patent No. 5,099,530 shows how to fold and transport an exercise pad. ECF No.
17-3, Figures 1-3, 3A.

Finally, Patent No. 5,644,807 depicts a beach towel with a carrying case. ECF No. 17-4,
Figures 1 and 4.
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Legler asserts that her design represents the best way to make such an item
compact and transportable. This value judgment is disproved by framing the issue
conversely: would using any of the foregoing methods in lieu of Legler‟s design
adversely affect the utility of the patent? Clearly not. Whether the mat is rolled, folded
or stuck in a bag, the item can be considered compact and transportable. Additionally,
the features used by Legler could have been designed differently—e.g., substituting
square fasteners for circles, making the handle shorter or wider, or lining the flaps with
additional decorations. If “other designs could produce the same or similar functional
capabilities, the design of the article is likely ornamental, not functional.” Rosco, 304
F.3d at 1378 (emphasis added).
In construing a design patent for an athletic shoe, the Federal Circuit reasoned
that simply because design elements, such as “the delta wing or the side mesh, also
provide support for the foot does not mean that the specific design of each element, and
the combination of these elements into the patented design, is dictated by primarily
functional considerations. The elements of the design may indeed serve a utilitarian
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purpose, but it is the ornamental aspect that is the basis of the design patent.” L.A. Gear
at 1123; see also Door-Master Corp. v. Yorktowne, Inc., 256 F.3d 1308, 1313 (Fed. Cir.
2001) (“Many different configurations of those features (oval, triangular, etc.) could
perform the same functions of an integrated door and frame”). By contrast, a design
patent for a multi-function tool combining a conventional hammer, a stud climbing tool
and a crowbar was construed to eliminate “several elements that are driven by pure
utility.” Richardson v. Stanley Works, Inc., 597 F.3d 1288, 1294 (Fed. Cir. 2010). The
jaw had to be located “on the opposite end of the hammer head such that the tool can be
used as a step.” Id. The crowbar had to be “on the end of the longer handle such that it
can reach into narrow spaces.” Id. The handle had to be “the longest arm of the tool to
allow for maximum leverage.” Id. And the hammer-head had to be “flat on its end to
effectively deliver force to the object being struck.” Id. “As demonstrated by the prior
art, those are purely functional elements whose utility has been known and used in the art
for well over a century.” Id. (emphasis added). Like the mesh on an athletic shoe, but
unlike a hammerhead or its handle, the handle, fasteners and flaps on the „806 patent are
ornamental, not functional.
So construed, the Court proceeds to the “ordinary observer” test. “[I]f, in the eye
of an ordinary observer, giving such attention as a purchaser usually gives, two designs
are substantially the same, if the resemblance is such as to deceive such an observer,
inducing him to purchase one supposing it to be the other, the first one patented is
infringed by the other.” Gorham Co. v. White, 81 U.S. 511, 528 (1871). This analysis “is
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not limited to the ornamental features of a subset of the drawings, but instead must
encompass the claimed ornamental features of all figures of a design patent.” Contessa at
1379; see also Amini Innovation Corp. v. Anthony Calif., Inc., 439 F.3d 1365, 1371 (Fed.
Cir. 2006) (“the deception that arises is a result of similarities in the overall design, not of
similarities in ornamental features considered in isolation”). Minor differences between a
claimed and accused design do not prevent a finding of infringement, Payless
Shoesource, Inc. v. Reebok Int’l Ltd., 998 F.2d 985, 991 (Fed. Cir. 1993), but if the
designs are “plainly dissimilar,” they are not “„substantially the same‟ to the ordinary
observer, as required by Gorham.” Egyptian Goddess at 678.
Figure 1E

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 2E

Figures 1 and 2 above depict the „806 patent in its compacted state. To make the
Inflatabed look compacted, Legler rolled the bed and stuffed the roll into the head pouch.
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Accordingly, Figures 1E and 2E show the Inflatabed in a manipulated state to look as
much as possible like the claimed design. In reality, the Inflatabed does not have an
inherent mechanism for making it “compactible” or “transportable.” Thus, Figures 1 and
2 show the ornamental features that Legler attempted to exclude from her claim: handle,
flaps, and fasteners. The Inflatabed does not have these features. Instead, Figures 1E and
2E show a Velcro square covering the air valve of the air mattress, a feature absent from
the „806 patent. Indeed, this latter feature makes the items plainly dissimilar even if, as
Legler argues, the handle, flaps and fasteners should be excluded from her claim.

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Figure 3

Figure 3E

Figure 4

Figure 4E

Figure 5

Figure 5E

Figures 3, 4, and 5 continue this theme, depicting the claimed design, still
compacted, from different angles.

Again, the Inflatabed does not have the flaps,

fasteners, and handle that highlight the features of the accused design. Also again, Figure
3E shows the Velcro square covering the air valve on the Inflatabed.

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Figure 12

Figure 12E

Figure 13
Figure 13E

Figures 8-14 all show the „806 patent in its un-compacted state. For example,
Figure 12 shows the underside of the bed. This figure shows the fasteners, the handle,
and the outline of the mat surrounding the cot. Figure 12E, by contrast, does not have
any of these features. Instead, the Inflatabed has a distinct pillow portion, and also a
Velcro opening where the air mattress is inserted. Figure 13 shows the patented design in
an un-compacted state, but from one end. Unlike Figure 13E, the „806 patent has a
convex top and a concave bottom. And once again, Figure 13E shows the Velcro square
covering the air valve on the Inflatabed.
The foregoing analysis demonstrates that the Inflatabed is plainly dissimilar from
the „806 patent, such that an ordinary observer would not be deceived and induced to
“purchase one supposing it to be the other, . . .” Gorham, 81 U.S. at 528. To the extent
that the Inflatabed bears any resemblance to the claimed design in the „806 patent, the

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two items are not “so much alike that in the market and with purchasers they would pass
for the same thing—so much alike that even persons in the trade would be in danger of
being deceived.” Id. at 531. Both items are sleep mats, but to state the obvious, Legler‟s
design is for a sleep mat that is compactible and transportable, while the Inflatabed lacks
an intrinsic method for storage or transport. The distinction between the two items is
manifest.
Accordingly, the Court considers this to be a case where the claimed and accused
designs are “sufficiently distinct,” making it “clear without more that the patentee has not
met its burden of proving the two designs would appear „substantially the same‟ to the
ordinary observer, . . .” Egyptian Goddess at 678. This conclusion is bolstered by
reference to the prior art. For example, even in its manipulated, compacted state, the
Inflatabed is no more similar to the claimed design than it is to the „807 patent, supra,
depicting a beach towel in a carrying case. Id. at 682 (“Nothing about [the] declaration
explains why an ordinary observer would regard the accused design as being closer to the
claimed design than to the . . . prior art patent”). Also consider the top, side, and
underside views of the “Comfort Liner” patent, No. D370,584, ECF No. 17-5, Ex. E:

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‟806 patent-in-suit

Inflatabed

D370,584 prior art patent
cited by the Examiner

FIG. 14
In these respects, the Inflatabed actually looks more like the prior art „584 patent than
Legler‟s claimed design. Thus, the “accused design could not reasonably be viewed as so
similar to the claimed design that a purchaser familiar with the prior art would be
deceived by the similarity between the claimed and accused designs, . . .” Id. at 683.
Legler requests leave to amend, but Legler already manipulated and configured
the Inflatabed in the light most favorable to her infringement claim. Further amendment
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would be futile. Bogie v. Rosenberg, 705 F.3d 603, 608 (7th Cir. 2013).
NOW, THEREFORE, BASED ON THE FOREGOING, IT IS HEREBY
ORDERED THAT Exxel‟s motion to dismiss [ECF No. 15] is GRANTED. The Clerk
of Court is directed to enter judgment accordingly.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 29th day of July, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

__________________________
HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA
U.S. District Judge

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