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ARTICLE · 03 MARCH 2014

Ibormeith v. Mercedes: Indefiniteness Of Means- Plus-Function Limitations

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The Federal Circuit recently addressed the definiteness of means-plus-function limitations in a case involving sleepinessmonitoring technology.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Nathan Sabri
Nathan Sabri
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The Federal Circuit recently addressed the definiteness of means-plus-function limitations in a case involving sleepinessmonitoring technology. Affirming a grant of summary judgment of indefiniteness, the court bound plaintiff Ibormeith IP, LLC ("Ibormeith") to its expert's broad infringement assertions, and held that providing a "template" for a person of ordinary skill in the art to construct an algorithm may be insufficient to define a structure under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f). Ibormeith IP, LLC v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 732 F.3d 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

Section 112(f) permits a claim limitation to be "expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof." Such "means-plus-function" limitations are "construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof." Id. In return for this benefit of including equivalents in the literal

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