United States Federal Circuit

A judgment and permanent injunction, pursuant to a jury verdict finding that defendants willfully induced the infringement of certain claims of various patents involving DC-to-AC converter circuits, is vacated and remanded where: 1) a district court's failure to construe the claim term "only if", and instead submitting the issue to the jury, was legal error; and 2) the jury should not have been permitted to find infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/03/2008
• Published 04/03/2008

Judges

• PROST, Circuit Judge., Before LOURIE, Circuit Judge, CLEVENGER, Senior Circuit Judge, and PROST, Circuit Judge.

Court

• United States Federal Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• James Pooley, Morrison & Foerster LLP, of Palo Alto, CA, argued for plaintiff-appellee.   With him on the brief was Bryan Wilson.   Of counsel on the brief was Richard S.J. Hung, of San Francisco, CA. Of counsel were Duane H. Mathiowetz, Howrey LLP, of San Francisco, CA;  and Richard C. Lin and Henry C. Su, of East Palo Alto, CA., Stanley Young, Heller Ehrman LLP, of Menlo Park, CA, argued for defendant-appellant Beyond Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. With him on the brief was Sarah R. Houghland.   Of counsel on the brief were Johnny Cheng-Teh Chiu, of Washington, DC;  E. Joshua Rosenkranz, of New York, NY;  and Ethan C. Glass, of San Francisco, CA., Gregory W. Carr, Carr LLP, of Dallas, TX, for defendants-appellants FSP Group and SPI Electronic Co., Ltd. With him on the brief was Theodore F. Shiells., Mao-Sen Yieh, Law Offices of Mao-Sen Yieh, of Houston, TX, for defendant-appellant Lien Chang Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd.