Following a reversal by the Federal Circuit, Judge Gorton denied an attempt to revise claim constructions agreed upon by the parties in a dispute over blood separating centrifuges. The defendant then moved for summary judgment of non-infringement. Judge Gorton agreed that the devices were non-infringing and entered judgment, declining to reach the issue of whether the asserted claims were indefinite. The case turned, as it always does, on claim construction:
I doubt the patentee had any idea that agreeing to a construction on a relatively undisputed term (at the time anyway) would end up being dispositive. If the agreed upon definition had omitted the language “into and out of the vessel”, perhaps the case would have ended differently. Practice point: avoid extraneous language in your claim construction.
Haemonetics Corp. v. Fenwal, Inc., 05-12572-NMG, 09-12107-NMG (D. Mass. Sep. 13, 2011)
05-12572-NMG 09-12107-NMG
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