Collateral estoppel may preclude construction of a claim
limitation in a reexamined patent if the limitation has been
previously construed and presents an identical issue.
e.Ditigal Corp. v. Futurewei Tech., Inc., & Huawei Device
USA, Inc., & Pantech Wireless, Inc., No. 2014-1019, -1242,
-1243 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 19, 2014) (Moore, J.). Click Here for a copy of the
opinion.
e.Digital sued defendants asserting claim 33 of the reexamined U.S.
Pat. No. 5,491,774 and claims 2 & 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,108.
The '774 patent covers a device with a microphone and flash
memory recording medium capable of audio recording and playback.
Prior to reexamination, the Colorado District Court construed the
"sole memory" in claims 1 & 19 of the '774 patent
to require "that the device use only flash memory, not RAM or
any other memory system" even if the device uses a
microprocessor. During reexamination, the USPTO allowed new claim
33, which recites the identical "sole memory"
