Intellectual Property Law

Judge Robreno Claim Construction Opinion

By Karen E. Keller, Andrew A. Lundgren et al.

Judge Robreno recently issued a claim construction opinion in a case involving 2 patents and nearly 30 disputed claim terms. The patents involve technology related to elevator installation. The disputed claim terms included the following:

?modernized?/?modernizing?
?modernizing device?
?a device for temporarily operating an elevator installation during modernization?
?a system for modernizing an elevator installation"
"a method for modernizing an elevator installation"
"elevator installation"
"elevator control"
"call report"
"floor terminal"
"at least one of [A] and [B]"
?floor terminal . . . operative for at least one input of destination call reports and recognition of identification codes of passengers"
?floor terminal . . . for at least one of the input of destination call reports and for recognition of identification codes of users?
?computing unit . . . for at least one of evaluating the destination call reports and association of destination floors with recognized ones of the identification codes?
"identification code[s]"
"recognition of identification codes of passengers"
"computing unit"
"destination signal"
?interrupting at least one existing electrical floor call transmitter line between at least one floor call transmitter and the elevator control?
?interrupting at least one existing car call transmitter line between at least one car call transmitter and the elevator control?
?the elevator control being disconnected from the hall call transmitters and the car call transmitters of the elevator installation?
"existing electrical floor call transmitter line"
"existing car call transmitter line"
"floor call transmitter line input"
"car call transmitter line input"
"hall call transmitters"
"in a modular manner"
"in succession"
"performing said steps a. through c. [of claim 1] for each elevator car and associated elevator control of an elevator installation in succession whereby the elevator installation is modernized in a modular manner?
"temporarily"

Inventio AG v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas Corp., C.A. 08-874-ER (D. Del. June 14, 2010)

Full post as published by Delaware IP Law Blog on June 17, 2010 (boomark / email).