Tippmann Engineering, LLC v. Innovative Refrigeration Systems, Inc. ( 2023 )

Case: 22-1318 Document: 44 Page: 1 Filed: 01/03/2023
NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC,
Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.,
MICHAEL J. MCGINNIS, JR.,
Defendants-Appellees
______________________
2022-1318
______________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Western District of Virginia in No. 5:19-cv-00087-MFU-
JCH, Chief Judge Michael F. Urbanski.
______________________
Decided: January 3, 2023
______________________
ANDREW M. MCCOY, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
LLP, Indianapolis, IN, argued for plaintiff-appellant. Also
represented by ALEXANDRA LAKSHMANAN LUSTER, Denver,
CO; LUCAS J. TOMSICH, East Palo Alto, CA.
JOSHUA GLIKIN, Bowie & Jensen, LLC, Towson, MD, ar-
gued for defendants-appellees.
______________________
Case: 22-1318 Document: 44 Page: 2 Filed: 01/03/2023
2 TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC v.
INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.
Before REYNA, SCHALL, and CHEN, Circuit Judges.
CHEN, Circuit Judge.
Tippmann Engineering, LLC (Tippmann) sued Innova-
tive Refrigeration Systems, Inc., and Michael J. McGinnis,
Jr., (collectively, Innovative) for infringement of U.S. Pa-
tent No. 9,297,570 (’570 patent). Following the district
court’s claim construction order, the parties stipulated to
non-infringement, and the district court entered final judg-
ment. Because we agree with the district court’s construc-
tion of the dispositive claim term, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
I
The ’570 patent is a continuation of U.S. Patent
No. 8,783,047 (’047 patent) and is directed to a “large ware-
house, building, or structure” that is “used as a giant
freezer that both freezes and maintains perishable foods or
like products.” ’570 patent col. 1 ll. 29–32. Unlike “two-
stage freezer warehouses,” where products are rapidly fro-
zen in “blast rooms” before being “moved to the storage
parts of the warehouse,” the ’570 patent teaches a “one-
stage freezing storage system” that utilizes “a specially
configured rack system that assists [in] freezing the prod-
uct directly in the open warehouse space.” Id. at col. 1
ll. 32–42. Removing the blast rooms has two benefits.
First, more space can be dedicated to storing the product,
thus “[i]ncreasing capacity or maneuvering room in a ware-
house.” Id. at col. 2 ll. 4–8. Second, by freezing the product
in the same location that it is stored, the ’570 patent’s con-
figuration “no longer requires transporting the pallet from
the blast room to a separate storage location in the ware-
house.” Id. at col. 2 ll. 24–27.
The ’570 patent specification is short but very clearly
describes a lone embodiment in which the disclosed ware-
house comprises “rows of racking” separated by aisles. Id.at col. 2 ll. 10–11. In each row, “pallets 4 are positioned
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several high on opposing sides and along chamber 6,” as
shown below:
Id. FIG. 4, col. 1 ll. 46–48; see also id. at col. 2 ll. 28–34.
The ’570 patent explains that its specially configured rack
system operates as follows:
Cold air produced in warehouse 2 is drawn through
spacers . . . separating rows of cases of product on
the pallet. This air cools the product down while
being drawn into chamber 6 indicated by direc-
tional arrow 16. In an illustrative embodiment,
and as further discussed herein, openings 30 along
the periphery of chamber 6 mate with cases 22 on
the pallets 4 . . . . The only significant way to move
the cold air inside warehouse 2 is by going through
and/or around the product on pallet 4. The air 16
drawn into chamber 6 can then be recooled and re-
circulated, or exhausted. Because the cold air
moves around product prior to entering chamber 6,
it provides an efficient means for freezing.
Id. at col. 1 ll. 48–59; see also id. at col. 2 ll. 29–32 (“[F]an
12 draws air in as indicated by directional arrow 16
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4 TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC v.
INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.
through and around cases of product 22 on pallets 4 before
entering chamber 6.”).
The patent also discloses “chillers” that produce the
cold air that flows through the product to both freeze it and
maintain its frozen condition:
Chillers 8 inside warehouse 2 produce the cold air
that flows through aisles 10 and into chambers 6.
It is appreciated that chillers 8 can be positioned in
different locations as needed inside ware-
house 2. . . . The chilled air passes through open
spaces near or through cases of product in order to
enter chamber 6. Air handlers, such as fans 12 in-
side or in air flow communication with chamber 6
assist in drawing the air within warehouse 2
through the palletized and/or through the product
cases and into the channel. Continuing this pro-
cess freezes the product as well as maintains its
frozen condition.
Id. at col. 1 l. 60 – col. 2 l. 4.
Independent claim 1 is representative and recites:
1. An installation for warehousing pallets of prod-
uct, comprising:
a warehouse defining a warehouse space set
to a desired air temperature; and
a pallet racking assembly disposed in the
warehouse space, the pallet racking assem-
bly comprising:
a pallet receiving space sized and
configured to receive a pallet as-
sembly including a pallet and a plu-
rality of vertically stacked rows of
cases disposed on the pallet and
providing an airflow pathway
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INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.
through the vertically stacked rows
of cases;
an airflow chamber including an
air inlet and an air outlet;
a fan positioned to direct air into
the airflow chamber from the air in-
let and exhaust air into the ware-
house space through the air outlet;
and
a wall disposed between the pallet
receiving space and the airflow
chamber, the wall having an air-
flow opening defining an opening
periphery, the opening sized and
positioned to be sealingly engaged
by the pallet assembly when the
pallet assembly is pressed against
the opening periphery, whereby the
air at the desired air temperature
can pass into the airflow pathway
of the pallet assembly to thereby
transfer heat between the product
and the air.
Id. at col. 4 ll. 24–48 (emphases added). The italicized
phrases are the focus of this appeal.
II
Tippmann sued Innovative, alleging that Innovative
infringed claims 1–4, 8–16, and 19–22 of the ’570 patent.
J.A. 1–2. On November 9, 2021, the district court issued a
claim construction order. Tippmann Eng’g, LLC v. Innova-
tive Refrigeration Sys., Inc., No. 5:19-cv-87, 2021 WL
5236872 (W.D. Va. Nov. 9, 2021) (Claim Construction Or-
der).
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6 TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC v.
INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.
Relevant here, the parties disputed whether “an air in-
let and an air outlet” and “a fan positioned to direct the air
into the airflow chamber from the air inlet and exhaust air
into the warehouse space through the air outlet” (collec-
tively, Air Flow Terms) require a negative-pressure ar-
rangement (also called an induced air arrangement), in
which air is drawn or sucked through the products to be
frozen, or whether the Air Flow Terms also encompass a
positive-pressure arrangement, in which air is forced or
pushed through the products to be frozen. Id. at *2; see also
J.A. 237–38; J.A. 542 ¶ 47. The district court found the
claims are limited to a negative-pressure arrangement be-
cause “all figures and embodiments disclosed in the ’047
and ’570 Patents’ shared specification either imply an in-
duced air arrangement or expressly disclose an induced air
arrangement” and that “no other embodiment or design is
ever taught, illustrated, or suggested.” Claim Construction
Order, 2021 WL 5236872, at *12–13. The district court also
found that the “prosecution history of the ’047 Patent in-
forms and limits the scope of the ’570 claims” because Tipp-
mann distinguished two prior art references disclosing
positive-pressure arrangements by “vigorously argu[ing]
that all of its independent claims required an ‘induced air
arrangement,’ i.e., negative air pressure.” Id. at *7. Thus,
the district court construed “an air inlet and an air outlet”
to mean “air intake(s) positioned along the wall of the air
chamber that correspond to each pallet position, and an air
outlet positioned at the top of the chamber from which air
is exhausted from the chamber back into the warehouse
space.” Id. at *16. The court also construed “a fan posi-
tioned to direct the air into the airflow chamber from the
air inlet and exhaust air into the warehouse space through
the air outlet” to mean “the fan is positioned to create a
negative pressure in the chamber that pulls air from the
air inlets/intakes and pushes the air through the air outlet
at the top of the chamber.” Id.Case: 22-1318 Document: 44 Page: 7 Filed: 01/03/2023
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The parties further disputed the construction of the
term “a warehouse defining a warehouse space set to a de-
sired air temperature” (Warehouse Term). The court first
explained that, although the ’570 patent’s claims “do not
expressly include the air chiller element,” “it would be clear
to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the system
needs a chiller to function.” Id. at *7 (citing ’570 patent
col. 1 ll. 60–61). The court then found that “the chiller must
be within the warehouse space” because (1) the specifica-
tion teaches that the chiller “can be positioned in different
locations as needed inside warehouse 2,” ’570 patent col. 1
ll. 61–63, and (2) “Tippmann emphatically distinguished
[the ’047 patent’s] application from [the prior art], assert-
ing that its independent claims require ‘at least one chiller
in the . . . warehouse space,’” J.A. 937. See Claim Construc-
tion Order, 2021 WL 5236872, at *7, *11. Thus, the court
construed “a warehouse defining a warehouse space set to
a desired air temperature” to mean “a structure containing
a space used as a giant freezer that contains a chiller and
both freezes and maintains perishable foods or like prod-
ucts.” Id. at *16.
Based on the court’s constructions, the parties stipu-
lated that Innovative did not infringe the asserted claims
and requested the court enter judgment of non-infringe-
ment. J.A. 4–5. The district court entered a final judgment
on December 3, 2021. J.A. 1–2. Tippmann timely ap-
pealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and
1295(a)(1).
DISCUSSION
We review claim construction based on intrinsic evi-
dence de novo and review any findings of fact regarding ex-
trinsic evidence for clear error. SpeedTrack, Inc. v.
Amazon.com, Inc., 998 F.3d 1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (cit-
ing Teva Pharms. USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., 574 U.S. 318,
331–32 (2015)).
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8 TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC v.
INNOVATIVE REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS, INC.
I. Air Flow Terms
Tippmann argues that the district court’s construction
of the Air Flow Terms is erroneous because the plain and
ordinary meaning of the claims does not require a negative-
pressure arrangement, and neither the ’570 patent’s speci-
fication nor the prosecution history of the ’047 or ’570 pa-
tents disclaim positive-pressure arrangements.
Appellant’s Br. 24–52. We disagree.
Claim construction requires determining how a skilled
artisan would understand a claim term “in the context of
the entire patent, including the specification.” Phillips v.
AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc).
The specification is the “single best guide to the meaning
of a disputed term,” Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc.,
90 F.3d 1576, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1996), and is “the primary
basis for construing the claims,” Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1315
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Thus, alt-
hough claim terms are normally given their ordinary and
customary meaning, where the inventor has disavowed
claim scope by manifesting that the invention does or does
not include a particular aspect, that intention “is regarded
as dispositive.” Id. at 1316 (citing SciMed Life Sys., Inc. v.
Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc., 242 F.3d 1337,
1343–44 (Fed. Cir. 2001)).
“A disavowal must be clear, but it need not be explicit.”
Techtronic Indus. Co. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 944 F.3d 901,
907 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (citing Trs. of Columbia Univ. v. Sy-
mantec Corp., 811 F.3d 1359, 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2016)). “Dis-
avowal ‘may be inferred from clear limiting descriptions of
the invention in the specification or prosecution history.’”
Id. (first quoting Aventis Pharma S.A. v. Hospira, Inc., 675
F.3d 1324, 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2012); and then citing Blackbird
Tech LLC v. ELB Elecs., Inc., 895 F.3d 1374, 1377–78 (Fed.
Cir. 2018) (collecting cases and finding no disavowal where
the specification did not teach that the feature in question
was “important, essential, or critical to the invention”)). In
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the end, “the purpose of claim construction is to ‘capture
the scope of the actual invention,’ and whether ‘the embod-
iments . . . define the outer limits of the claim term,’ or are
‘merely . . . exemplary in nature,’ is a question that must
be determined in the context of the particular patent.’” Id.(quoting Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1323–24).
We conclude the ’570 patent is singularly devoted to a
negative-pressure system in which cold air is drawn into
the chamber. The specification discloses as the invention
a specially configured rack system that draws cold air from
the warehouse through the palletized product to both
freeze and store the product. See, e.g., ’570 patent col. 1
ll. 48–51 (“Cold air produced in warehouse 2 is drawn
through spacers 20 (see FIG. 6) separating rows of cases of
product on the pallet. This air cools the product down while
being drawn into chamber 6 indicated by directional arrow
16.” (emphases added)); id. at col 1 l. 56 (“The air 16 drawn
into chamber 6 . . . .” (emphasis added)); id. at col. 1
ll. 57–59 (“Because the cold air moves around the product
prior to entering chamber 6, it provides an efficient means
for freezing.” (emphasis added)); id. at col. 1 l. 66 – col 2 l. 4
(“Air handlers, such as fans 12 inside or in air flow commu-
nication with chamber 6, assist in drawing the air within
warehouse 2 through the palletized and/or through the
product cases and into the channel. Continuing this pro-
cess freezes the product as well as maintains its frozen con-
dition.” (emphasis added)); id. at col. 2 ll. 29–32 (“[F]an 12
draws air in as indicated by directional arrow 16 through
and around cases of product 22 on pallets 4 before entering
chamber 6.” (emphasis added)); see also id. at Abstract (“A
plurality of racking structures each define an air flow
chamber having air intake openings on opposite sides
thereof and an air outlet to enable freezing air to be drawn
into the chamber through the intake openings and ex-
hausting into the warehouse space. Pallets on pallet
guides are pressed against the intake openings such that
freezing air is drawn through the palletized product to
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thereby quickly freeze the product.” (emphases added)); id.
FIGS. 4, 6, 10 (arrows 16 depicting air flow from the ware-
house aisles, through the product, and into chamber 6).
This arrangement, whereby cold air is drawn from the
warehouse through the palletized product and into the
chamber between the pallets, is a negative-pressure ar-
rangement, and no other arrangement is taught or sug-
gested. When viewed in its entirety, the ’570 patent’s
disclosure is unambiguously focused on and limited to a
negative-pressure arrangement, thereby excluding a posi-
tive-pressure system. See E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
v. Unifrax I LLC, 921 F.3d 1060, 1068 (Fed. Cir. 2019)
(“When the specification makes clear that the invention
does not include a particular feature, that feature is
deemed to be outside the reach of the claims of the patent,
even though the language of the claims, read without ref-
erence to the specification, might be considered broad
enough to encompass the feature in question.” (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted)). Thus, we find the
’570 patent’s specification clearly disavows a positive-pres-
sure arrangement.
Tippmann presents three arguments in response.
First, Tippmann argues that dependent claims 5–7 and
17–18 recite limitations that require a negative-pressure
arrangement, and thus the independent claims are not so
limited. Appellant’s Br. 46–50. But as Tippmann’s brief
concedes, claim differentiation only creates a presumption
that each claim in a patent has a different scope. Appel-
lant’s Br. 46–47 (citing Versa Corp. v. Ag-Bag Int’l Ltd., 392
F.3d 1325, 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). As we have explained,
“claim differentiation is not a hard and fast rule, and the
presumption can be overcome by a contrary construction
required by the specification or prosecution history, such
as via a disclaimer.” GE Lighting Sols., LLC v. AgiLight,
Inc., 750 F.3d 1304, 1310 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (citation omit-
ted). Here, any claim differentiation presumption is
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overcome by the specification’s clear disavowal of a posi-
tive-pressure arrangement.
Second, Tippmann argues that construing the claims
to require a negative-pressure arrangement improperly
reads in limitations from the only disclosed embodiment.
Appellant’s Br. 43–46. We disagree. Tippmann’s argu-
ment ignores, for example, the fact that the Abstract,
which does not refer to the “illustrative embodiment,” ex-
plains that “freezing air is drawn through the palletized
product to thereby quickly freeze the product.” ’570 patent
Abstract; see also Hill-Rom Co. v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc.,
209 F.3d 1337, 1341 n.* (Fed. Cir. 2000) (“We have fre-
quently looked to the abstract to determine the scope of the
invention . . . .” (citations omitted)). Additionally, as we ex-
plained in Phillips, “[o]ne of the best ways to teach a person
of ordinary skill in the art how to make and use the inven-
tion is to provide an example of how to practice the inven-
tion in a particular case,” and that “[m]uch of the time,
upon reading the specification in that context, it will be-
come clear whether the patentee is setting out specific ex-
amples of the invention . . . or whether the patentee
instead intends for the claims and the embodiments in the
specification to be strictly coextensive.” 415 F.3d at 1323;
see also id. (citing Snow v. Lake Shore & M.S. Ry. Co., 121
U.S. 617, 630 (1887) (it was clear from the specification
that there was “nothing in the context to indicate that the
patentee contemplated any alternative” embodiment to the
one presented)). Here, we find the specification’s repeated
disclosure of a negative-pressure arrangement, coupled
with the figures illustrating a negative-pressure air flow,
describes the invention, not a mere example of the inven-
tion. See also Inpro II Licensing, S.A.R.L. v. T-Mobile USA,
Inc., 450 F.3d 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (“Although
claims need not be limited to the preferred embodiment
when the invention is more broadly described, neither do
the claims enlarge what is patented beyond what the
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12 TIPPMANN ENGINEERING, LLC v.
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inventor has described as the invention.” (internal quota-
tion marks and citation omitted)).
Third, Tippmann argues that the district court erred in
relying on the ’047 patent’s prosecution history. Appel-
lant’s Br. 28–43. We agree that statements regarding the
specific limitations at issue in the ’047 patent’s prosecution
history do not apply to the claims of the ’570 patent. Saun-
ders Grp., Inc. v. Comfortrac, Inc., 492 F.3d 1326, 1333
(Fed. Cir. 2007) (“When the purported disclaimers are di-
rected to specific claim terms that have been omitted or
materially altered in subsequent applications (rather than
to the invention itself), those disclaimers do not apply.” (ci-
tation omitted)). But the district court’s reliance on prose-
cution history is harmless because we find that the ’570
patent’s specification clearly disavows a positive-pressure
arrangement.
We thus adopt the district court’s construction of “an
air inlet and an air outlet” and “a fan positioned to direct
the air into the airflow chamber from the air inlet and ex-
haust air into the warehouse space through the air outlet.”
II. Warehouse Term
Tippmann also argues that the district court erred in
construing the term “a warehouse defining a warehouse
space set to a desired air temperature” to require a chiller
located in the warehouse space. Appellant’s Br. 52–62. We
find it unnecessary to address this argument, however, be-
cause our construction of the ’570 patent’s Air Flow Terms
as limited to a negative-pressure arrangement is sufficient
to affirm the judgment below. See Claim Construction Or-
der, 2021 WL 5236872, at *2 (“As Tippmann noted at oral
argument, if the ’570 Patent was limited to a negative pres-
sure system, ‘that would end our case.’” (citation omitted)).
CONCLUSION
We have considered Tippmann’s remaining arguments
and find them unpersuasive. For the foregoing reasons, we
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adopt the district court’s construction of “an air inlet and
an air outlet” and its construction of “a fan positioned to
direct the air into the airflow chamber from the air inlet
and exhaust air into the warehouse space through the air
outlet,” and we affirm the district court’s judgment based
thereon.
AFFIRMED