MOORE, Circuit Judge.
Augme Technologies, Inc. (Augme) sued Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!) alleging infringement of certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,594,691 and 7,269,636 (collectively, the Augme patents), and Yahoo! counterclaimed that Augme and World Talk Radio, LLC (collectively, Appellants) infringed certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,640,320. After claim construction, the court granted Yahoo! summary judgment of noninfringement. The district court also entered judgment that certain means-plus-function terms in claims 19 and 20 of Augme's '691 patent were indefinite. Finally, Appellants stipulated to infringement of the asserted claims of Yahoo!'s '320 patent based on the court's claim construction. This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1).
On appeal, Augme challenges the district court's determination that Yahoo!'s accused systems do not infringe the Augme patents either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents and that claims 19 and 20 of the '691 patent are indefinite. We affirm the grant of summary judgment of no literal infringement and of no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents based on the "embedded" limitation. We also affirm the grant of summary judgment that claims 19 and 20 are indefinite.
Appellants appeal from the judgment that they infringe the '320 patent and challenge the district court's construction of the claim term "server hostname." Appellants also appeal from the district court's judgment that claim 7 of the '320 patent is not indefinite. We affirm the district court in all respects with regard to the '320 patent.
We review summary judgment decisions under regional circuit law. Lexion Med., LLC v. Northgate Techs., Inc., 641 F.3d 1352, 1358 (Fed.Cir.2011). The Ninth Circuit reviews the grant of summary judgment de novo. Greater Yellowstone Coal. v. Lewis, 628 F.3d 1143, 1148 (9th Cir.2010). Summary judgment is appropriate if "the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). At the summary judgment stage, we credit all of the nonmovant's evidence and draw all justifiable inferences in its favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).
The Augme patents share a common specification that discloses adding functionality, such as media or advertisements, to a web page. '691 patent col. 1 ll. 41-51, col. 14 ll. 18-22. The disclosed embodiments include two code modules. A first code module is embedded in a web page downloaded by a web browser. Id. col. 6 ll. 9-18. The embedded first code module issues a command to retrieve a second code module from a server. Id. The second code module contains the code for the added functionality and a "service response." Id. col. 12 ll. 38-55, col. 17 ll. 22-23. The
Each asserted claim recites: (1) a "service response" contained in the second code module; and (2) an "embedded" first code module that "retrieves" or "initiates retrieval"
The accused Yahoo! systems distribute advertisements for display in web pages.
The district court granted summary judgment of noninfringement to Yahoo!. It held that the accused Yahoo! systems do
The district court construed "service response" to be "a response that indicates whether the downloaded web page is permitted to have access to a requested function...." Augme Techs., Inc. v. Yahoo!, Inc., C.A. No. 09-05386-JCS, slip op. at 15-18, 2011 WL 6048817 (N.D.Cal. Sept. 27, 2011), ECF No. 192 (Claim Construction Order). It then granted summary judgment of noninfringement to Yahoo! because it determined, as a matter of law, that Yahoo!'s ad codes were not service responses. Augme Techs., Inc. v. Yahoo!, Inc., C.A. No. 09-05386-JCS, 2012 WL 3627408, at *7-9 (N.D.Cal. Aug. 21, 2012) (Summary Judgment Order). In particular, the district court determined that returning a blank or advertisement-containing ad code does not indicate "whether permission is granted or denied." Id. at *9.
On appeal, the parties do not challenge, and therefore we do not address, the district court's construction of service response as requiring an indication of permission. There is no real dispute regarding how the Yahoo! systems function, but only over whether a reasonable jury could conclude that the Yahoo! functionality includes an indication about web page permission. Augme's expert testified that the accused Yahoo! systems process information related to ad requests, such as processor platform and web browser information, to find an ad that is the "best match" for each ad request. J.A. 7058-60 ¶¶ 7, 12, 13. He explained that if the Yahoo! system "locates a suitable ad" based on this information, it includes the advertisement in the ad code, and if it "cannot satisfy the ad request," it returns a blank or default ad code. Id. Augme's expert equated this advertisement suitability determination with permission. Id. Yahoo!'s 30(b)(6) witness similarly testified that the accused Yahoo! systems return a blank or advertisement-containing ad code based on this suitability requirement, i.e., whether the system is "able to fill an ad." J.A. 6746. Yahoo!, however, argues that advertisement suitability is different than permission and thus returning an advertisement-containing or blank code based on a suitability determination does not indicate anything about permission.
We hold that there is a question of material fact as to whether a blank or advertisement-containing ad code is an indication of "permission" in light of both the district court's construction and the Augme patents. The district court rejected Augme's proposed construction of "service response," which would have required that it indicate a denial of, customized, or default service to be rendered on a web page. Claim Construction Order at 15. It noted that this proposed construction was a limitation in a dependent claim, and thus "service response" was presumed to be broader by virtue of claim differentiation. Id. at 17. It thus concluded that service response should be construed as "a response that indicates whether the downloaded web page is permitted to have access to a requested function." Id. at 18. Thus, according to the district court's construction, an indication of permission included, but was necessarily broader than, a response indicating a denial of, customized, or default service.
The Augme patents tie together the notions of permission and suitability when
We reject the district court's conclusion that returning a blank ad code cannot meet the service response limitation. The embodiments disclosed in the Augme patents expressly do just that — they indicate a denial of service with a service response that omits the media appliance metaphor altogether, i.e., a blank service response. Id. col. 7 ll. 59-63, col. 12 ll. 51-55. We also reject Yahoo!'s argument that a blank ad code cannot be a service response because the Yahoo! systems do not "check whether the requesting web page has permission to access an advertisement." Appellee's Br. 26. This argument is based on elements not present in the claim or the construction of service response. The asserted claims do not require an independent permission-checking step — only an indication of whether the web page has permission.
The Yahoo! systems return either an advertisement or blank code based on the suitability of a particular advertisement. The evidence of record demonstrates that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether these advertisements or blank codes provide an indication of web page permission in the context of the Augme patents and the district court's construction. Thus, the "service response" limitation is not a basis upon which we can affirm summary judgment of noninfringement.
The district court construed "embedded" to mean "written into the HTML code of the web page," and explained that this construction was consistent with the term's plain meaning. Claim Construction Order at 12-14. The district court explained that this construction expressly excluded "a code module that is retrieved via external linking," i.e., code not actually in the web page HTML, but separately retrieved after the web page download. Id. The court then concluded that Yahoo!'s accused systems do not include an "embedded" first code module that "initiates retrieval" of a second code module either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Summary Judgment Order at *9-12. On appeal, Augme challenges the court's construction that embedded code excludes linked code and its grant of summary judgment of literal infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
Augme argues on appeal that the district court's construction is erroneous because embedded code can include linked code, i.e., code not actually in the web page HTML, but separately retrieved after the web page download. We agree with the district court's construction.
Augme asserts that there is no lexicography or disavowal in the specification that requires embedded code to exclude linked code. Appellants' Br. 26-28. Augme's argument is inapposite. It is well established that a patentee may deviate from the plain and ordinary meaning of a claim term by disavowing claim scope or acting as his own lexicographer. Thorner v. Sony Computer Entm't Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed.Cir.2012). But that principle does not apply here because the patentee is not deviating from the plain and ordinary meaning of "embedded." Linked code is not "written into the HTML code of the web page." It is, instead, separately retrieved by other embedded code that references or points to the linked code. Code that is merely referenced for future insertion into a web page is not written into the HTML code in that web page. For example, an HTML link can itself be embedded in the web page, but the code that is retrieved when the link is executed is located elsewhere. The plain and ordinary meaning of embedded code is code written into the HTML code of the web page.
Rather than disavow the plain meaning, the specification reinforces the plain-meaning construction that excludes linked code. It explains that "the present invention teaches of a method and system for adding function ... to a Web page, through the implementation of a simple code module embedded in the HTML of the Web page." '691 patent col. 14 ll. 18-22 (emphasis added); see also id. col. 2 ll. 36-41, col. 4 ll. 63-65. It continues, "the code module is... readily copied and pasted into a Web
The district court granted Yahoo! summary judgment that its accused systems do not literally infringe the asserted claims because it determined that Yahoo!'s embedded smart tag could not be the first code module under its construction. Summary Judgment Order at *9-11. In particular, the district court determined that the smart tag does not "retrieve" or "initiate retrieval of" the imp code (the alleged second code module) — it downloads the intermediary smart code, and it is that downloaded smart code which retrieves the imp code. Id. at *17-18.
Augme contends that there is a factual dispute as to whether the smart tag's retrieval of the smart code "initiates retrieval of" a second code module. In essence, Augme argues that because the embedded smart tag begins a process which ultimately results in retrieval of the imp code, a jury could conclude that this smart tag initiates the retrieval process.
We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment of no literal infringement based on the "embedded first code module" limitation. Yahoo!'s embedded smart tags do not initiate retrieval of the imp code (the alleged second code module); the non-embedded smart code does. In the accused Yahoo! systems, the embedded smart tag retrieves an intermediary smart code. This smart code is not embedded under the district court's construction; it is separately downloaded. After it is retrieved, the smart code, in turn, retrieves the imp code (the alleged second code module). Thus, the Yahoo! systems cannot literally infringe because they contain two sets of code: one that is embedded but does not retrieve the alleged second code module and another that retrieves the alleged second code module but is not embedded. As the district court correctly concluded, the embedded smart tags do not "initiate retrieval of the second code module as required by the claims; rather [they issue] a command to download other code." Summary Judgment Order at *10. Because Yahoo!'s non-embedded smart code initiates retrieval of the alleged second code module, there can be no literal infringement.
The district court also granted summary judgment that the Yahoo! systems
We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment. As construed, embedded code does not include externally linked code. Augme's arguments that the Combined RMX Module is equivalent to the embedded first code module are essentially identical to its claim construction arguments: namely that linked code can fall within the definition of embedded code. No reasonable jury could find equivalence here because doing so would require a determination that embedded code is substantially the same as linked code — the very thing that the construction of "embedded" excludes. "[T]he concept of equivalency cannot embrace a structure that is specifically excluded from the scope of the claims." Dolly, Inc. v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., 16 F.3d 394, 400 (Fed.Cir. 1994). While we have recognized that literal failure to meet a claim limitation does not necessarily constitute a "specific exclusion," see Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 149 F.3d 1309, 1317 (Fed.Cir.1998), we have found "specific exclusion" where the patentee seeks to encompass a structural feature that is the opposite of, or inconsistent with, the recited limitation. See, e.g., SciMed Life Sys., Inc. v. Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc., 242 F.3d 1337, 1346-47 (Fed.Cir. 2001). Because the Augme patents make clear that embedded and linked code are opposites, we agree with the district court that they "cannot possess only insubstantial differences." Summary Judgment Order at *12.
Further, the record evidence does not create a genuine issue of fact regarding whether embedded code is insubstantially different from linked code or whether the function-way-result test is met. Augme's expert declaration fails to create a genuine issue of material fact. The relevant testimony reads:
J.A. 7060-61 (emphases added). Even if we were to determine that this testimony creates a genuine issue of material fact regarding the "function" and "result" prongs (e.g., at paragraphs 19 and 21), there is no testimony regarding whether the Combined RMX Module and the embedded first code module perform the recited functions in substantially the same "way." Paragraph 22's restatement of the function-way-result test itself is simply not enough. To survive summary judgment of noninfringement under the doctrine of equivalents, Augme had to present evidence of equivalence under each prong of the function-way-result test. Perkin-Elmer Corp. v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 822 F.2d 1528, 1532 n. 6 (Fed.Cir.1987) ("That a claimed invention and an accused device may perform substantially the same function and may achieve the same result will not make the latter an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents where it performs the function and achieves the result in a substantially different way."). Augme failed to present the required evidence.
Yahoo!'s expert testimony does not provide for Augme its missing evidence. First, the testimony compares "the function way and result of the patent to the function-way-result of the accused products." J.A. 6993. This testimony does not focus on the relevant inquiry: the function-way-result test compares a limitation of a claim to an element of an accused product, not the entire patent to the entire product. Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chem. Co., 520 U.S. 17, 40, 117 S.Ct. 1040, 137 L.Ed.2d 146 (1997); Am. Calcar, Inc. v. Am. Honda Motor Co., 651 F.3d 1318, 1338-39 (Fed.Cir.2011). Second, even if the testimony were of proper scope, it is conclusory, stating only that the product would "operate the same," "perform [the functions described in the patent] in essentially the same way," and "would [produce] the same result." J.A. 6993-94. It offers no explanation beyond these conclusory statements. We recognize that this testimony is from Yahoo!, not Augme. However, even considering the source, we cannot give it any more evidentiary weight than it deserves.
The district court correctly concluded that the Yahoo! systems' Combined RMX and APT Modules are not equivalent to the recited "embedded first code module." The district court rejected Augme's equivalence argument, explaining that writing code directly into a web page HTML and
The district court held that claims 19 and 20 of the '691 patent are indefinite. It determined that the phrase "means for assembling, at said server system, said second computer readable code module," is an indefinite means-plus-function limitation because the patent does not disclose any structure or algorithm for performing the recited assembling function.
It is undisputed that "means for assembling" is a computer-implemented means-plus-function limitation. Thus, to meet the definiteness requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, the specification must disclose an algorithm for performing the claimed-function. Net Money-IN, Inc. v. VeriSign, Inc., 545 F.3d 1359, 1367 (Fed.Cir.2008). Certainly, the algorithm may be expressed in "any understandable terms including as a mathematical formula, in prose, or as a flow chart, or in any other manner that provides sufficient structure." Finisar Corp. v. DirecTV Grp., Inc., 523 F.3d 1323, 1340 (Fed. Cir.2008) (citations omitted). But it must disclose some algorithm; it cannot merely restate the function recited in the claim. Id.
Augme contends that the specification discloses an algorithm for assembling the second computer readable code module. It contends that Figure 5 and its accompanying text disclose how a service response is formed and distributed. It asserts that the specification then describes how the second code module is assembled, '691 patent col. 11 l. 60-col. 12 l. 1, and even provides "software code" for doing so, id. col. 4 ll. 51-60.
We affirm the district court's conclusion of indefiniteness because the '691 patent does not disclose any algorithm for assembling the second computer readable code module. Figure 5 and its accompanying text describe a process for providing a service response, not for assembling the second code module. See id. col. 6 ll. 36-37 ("Fig. 5 shows a flow chart of a service response provision process...."). The
Yahoo!'s '320 patent is directed to retrieving digital content over a computer network using a unique identifier assigned to the content. '320 patent col. 1 ll. 54-65. The digital content is associated with a server hostname and a filename. Id. col. 17 l. 59-col. 18 l. 3, col. 27 ll. 42-44. A website link to the digital content includes a unique identifier assigned to the digital content, but does not include the server hostname or the filename. Id. col. 27 ll. 48-52; see id. col. 17 ll. 27-35. When a user clicks the link, the browser sends the identifier to a server, the server looks up the server hostname and filename corresponding to the unique identifier, and the requested content is provided to the user based on the server hostname and filename. Id. col. 27 l. 51-col. 28 l. 10; see id. col. 17 l. 30-col. 18 l. 26. Each asserted claim recites a "server hostname." Claim 1 is representative (emphases added):
The district court construed "server hostname" to be a "network name of a server." Appellants stipulated to infringement based on this construction. On appeal, Appellants challenge that construction as overly broad and argue that "server hostname" should be construed as "the network name of the particular media server in a content management system from which the digital content is served to the end user."
We agree with the district court's construction which is consistent with the term's plain meaning. Indeed, as Appellants admit, "[t]here appears to be no real dispute that `hostname' refers to the network name of a particular server on a network." Augme's and World Talk Radio's Responsive Claim Construction Brief, Augme Techs., Inc. v. Yahoo! Inc., C.A. No. 09-05386-JCS, at 15-16 (N.D.Cal. Sept. 27, 2011), ECF No. 193 (relying on dictionary definition and Yahoo!'s expert testimony to construe "hostname").
Appellants' attempts to add two limitations to this plain-meaning construction are improper. Appellants propose adding: (1) that the server hostname refers to a "media server in a content management system" and (2) that digital content is served from that particular media server to the end user. Neither the specification nor the prosecution history includes any lexicography or disavowal that would justify a departure from the plain meaning. Thorner, 669 F.3d at 1365.
With regard to the first limitation, the claims do not even recite a "content management system." Moreover, while Appellants point to portions of the '320 patent that purportedly distinguish between client or end-user servers and content management servers, these portions undisputedly do not define or otherwise require the server hostname to refer only to a server in a content management system. See '320 patent col. 1 ll. 47-54, col. 4 ll. 12-16.
Regarding the second limitation, Appellants assert that the claim requires a "redirector file," and that the specification requires the redirector file to include the server hostname that is "the location ... of the particular media server 120 containing [the digital content]." Id. col. 17 ll. 62-65, col. 26 ll. 20-41. Again, however, the portions of the specification that Appellants cite do not redefine "server hostname" to correspond to the server that serves digital content to the end user. Moreover, claim 1 does not even recite returning digital content. We refuse to incorporate this additional limitation from the specification into the asserted claims.
There is no reason to deviate from the plain meaning of server hostname based on any arguments made during prosecution. Yahoo!'s statements during original prosecution and reexamination do not limit the server hostname to a media server from which the digital content is served. Augme contends that during original prosecution, Yahoo! stated that a server hostname corresponds to a server that serves digital content. However, Yahoo! expressly qualified this characterization of "server hostname" as being exemplary. J.A. 2611 ("[A] server ... creates a redirector file, which contains a reference to the server hostname, e.g., a server to serve the content...."). Augme also contends that during reexamination, Yahoo! stated that the server hostname identifies "the specific location from which the digital content may be requested." Response to Office Action, Reexamination Control No.
We agree with the district court's plain-meaning construction of "server hostname." We therefore affirm the district court's entry of summary judgment that Appellants infringe the asserted claims of the '320 patent based on this construction.
Finally, Appellants challenge the district court's determination that the claim 7 limitation of "receiving, by an ingest server, the unique identifier to the digital content" does not render the claim indefinite. Appellants argue that the limitation is indefinite because the '320 patent only discloses that the ingest server receives digital content, not a unique identifier as required by the claims. Appellants' arguments appear to be based on the wrong legal standard, i.e., written description or enablement as opposed to indefiniteness. The standard for indefiniteness is "whether those skilled in the art would understand what is claimed when the claim is read in light of the specification." Bancorp Servs., L.L.C. v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 359 F.3d 1367, 1371 (Fed.Cir.2004). It requires "that a patent's claims, viewed in light of the specification and prosecution history, inform those skilled in the art about the scope of the invention with reasonable certainty." Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., ___ U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct. 2120, 2129, 189 L.Ed.2d 37 (2014). The limitation at issue here is clear on its face and unquestionably meets this standard. We affirm the district court's determination that claim 7 is not indefinite.
We affirm the grant of summary judgment that Yahoo! does not infringe the Augme patents literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. We affirm the district court's determination that claims 19 and 20 of the '691 patent are invalid for indefiniteness. We affirm the grant of summary judgment that Appellants infringe the asserted claims of the '320 patent and the district court's conclusion that claim 7 of the '320 patent is not indefinite.
No costs.