Summary Judgment Denied On Reverse Doctrine Of Equivalents Defense

On April 28, 2017, the District Court for the District of Delaware denied AVM Technologies' motion for summary judgment because Intel's non infringement defense based on the reverse doctrine of equivalents requires the Court to resolve disputes of material fact regarding the manner in which Intel's product functioned relative to the claimed invention.

An accused infringer may rely on the reverse doctrine of equivalents as a defense "where a[n accused] device is so far changed in principle from a patented article that it performs the same or a similar function in a substantially different way, but nevertheless falls within the literal words of the claim." Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Prod. Co., 339 U.S. 605, 608-09 (1950).  It "is an equitable doctrine designed 'to prevent unwarranted extension of the claims beyond a fair scope of the patentee's invention.'" Roche Palo Alto LLC v. Apotex, Inc., 531 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (quoting Scripps Clinic & Resea