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ARTICLE · 15 DECEMBER 2016

Negative Functional Limitations Can Be Directly Infringed By Manufacturers

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The Federal Circuit recently clarified in LifeNet Health v. LifeCell Corporation, No. 2015-1549 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2016) that a negative functional claim limitation can be used to describe a capability...

United StatesIntellectual Property
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The Federal Circuit recently clarified in LifeNet Health v. LifeCell Corporation, No. 2015-1549 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2016) that a negative functional claim limitation can be used to describe a capability or structural element of an apparatus.  The Court affirmed a judgment of direct infringement against a manufacturer where the limitation was found to be satisfied from the moment the apparatus was manufactured, without any further action by a third party physician or customer.

LifeNet's patent is directed to plasticized soft tissue grafts suitable for transplantation into humans. The claim recites "one or more plasticizers contained in said internal matrix" and that "said one or more plasticizers are not removed from said internal matrix of said plasticized soft tissue graft prior to transplantation into a human."

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