The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the grant of a summary judgment of non-infringement finding that the patent claims in question were construed too narrowly by the district court. Prima Tek II, L.L.C. v. Polypap, Case No. 02-1164 (Fed. Cir. February 5, 2003).
The patent-in-suit describes a decorative assembly for a floral grouping. The district court construed the claim term "floral holding material" to be limited to "a three-dimensional solid, semi-solid, or granular material capable of giving support to individual flowers when their stems are inserted into the material." The district court also required that the floral stems be "inserted into and through" the floral holding material. Based on its construction, the district court found that the product in issue did not infringe the Prima Tek patent, either literally or under
