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11 January 2017Patents

Volkswagen claims victory in Federal Circuit patent clash

Volkswagen Group of America has claimed victory at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a patent infringement clash.

The case centred on four patents, each called “Tilt control apparatus for vehicles” and owned by Delaware-based Cloud Farm Associates. They are US patent numbers 5,437,354; 5,529,153; 5,971,115; and 5,979,616.

Volkswagen Group of America is the North American operational headquarters of car manufacturer Volkwagen.

Cloud Farm sued Volkswagen in 2015 at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of the four patents.

In the claim, ZF Sachs was also sued, with Cloud Farm claiming that the German manufacturer of automotive parts had infringed three of the four patents.

After two rounds of claim construction, the parties stipulated that if the district court’s constructions were not reversed or modified on appeal, Cloud Farm could not prove infringement of any asserted claims.

The district court had agreed with Volkswagen in construing the claim terms “seal,” “seals,” and “sealing” to mean “stopping the flow of hydraulic fluid”, rather than merely reducing the flow, as argued by Cloud Farm.

According to the Federal Circuit, Cloud Farm and Volkswagen further stipulated that under the district court’s constructions, two asserted claims are invalid as indefinite.

“The district court adopted the joint stipulation and entered a final judgment of non-infringement and invalidity,” said Circuit Judge Raymond Clevenger in the opinion, handed down on Monday, January 9.

Cloud Farm had appealed against the district court’s construction of several claim terms.

But the Federal Circuit backed the district court, explaining that the court was correct to side with Volkswagen and reason that the car manufacturer’s constructions were supported by “intrinsic evidence”.

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