DSU MEDICAL CORPORATION and MEDISYSTEMS CORPORATION, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. JMS CO., LTD. and JMS NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION, Defendants-Cross Appellants, and ITL CORPORATION PTY, LTD., Defendant-Cross Appellant. ITL CORPORATION PTY, LTD., Plaintiff-Cross Appellant, v. DSU MEDICAL CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant., 471 F.3d 1293

Summary

The patented inventions guarded winged-needle sets to prevent needle-stick injuries. The distributor bought the manufacturer's needle guards and closed them before supplying consumers. The court held that the trial court properly granted the manufacturer summary judgment of non-infringement after a verdict of infringement against the distributor, who sold the product in an infringing closed-shell configuration, because the product, in its open-shell configuration, was a stand-alone guard without a needle. The claims' language and context supported the construction of "slidably enclosing a sliding assembly" as requiring that the guard contain the needle at all times. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial on the contributory infringement under 35 U.S.C.S. § 271(c) of the manufacturer, which only contributed to placing the product into the closed-shell configuration in Malaysia, not the United States. The court held that the trial court ...