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ARTICLE · 27 JUNE 2022

Not All Intrinsic Evidence Is Equal

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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In Ultra-Mek, Inc. v. United Furniture Industries, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-281, 2022 WL 1799235 (M.D.N.C. June 2, 2022), the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ("the Court")...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Alissa E. Green
Alissa E. Green
Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis
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Holding

In Ultra-Mek, Inc. v. United Furniture Industries, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-281, 2022 WL 1799235 (M.D.N.C. June 2, 2022), the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ("the Court") construed the claim term "opposed first and second ends." The Court construed this term by analyzing three sources of intrinsic evidence: the claim language, the specification, and prior art disclosed in the patents.

Background

Ultra-Mek, Inc. ("Plaintiff") sued United Furniture Industries, Inc. and others ("Defendants") for infringement of patents related to a reclining chair, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,016,348 ("the '348 patent") and 8,297,693 ("the '693 patent"). Id. at *1. During the claim construction phase of the case, the Court construed disputed claim terms, but those terms did not include the phrase "opposed first and second ends." Id.

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