Advanced Steel Recovery, LLC v. X-Body Equipment, Inc.
Addressing claim construction issues, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment ruling, finding that the district court properly construed the disputed claim limitation based on its ordinary meaning. Advanced Steel Recovery, LLC v. X-Body Equipment, Inc., Case No. 14-1829 (Fed. Cir., Nov. 12, 2015) (Stoll, J.).
Advanced Steel sued X-Body alleging infringement of a patent related to loading shipping containers with bulk material for storage or transport. At issue was the proper construction of the term “proximate end.” Noting that the specification did not expressly define this term, the district court construed “proximate end” to mean “the extreme or last part lengthwise.” Based on this construction, the district court found that the “connection point” of the accused device was not at the “proximate end” and granted summary judgment of non-infringement in X-Body’s favor.
