Federal Circuit: Power Mosfet v Siemens and Infineon

Power Mosfet Technologies (PMT) v. Siemens AG (Fed. Cir. 2004)

PMT sued Siemens for infringement of its patented technology covering a voltage sustaining layer for a MOSFET.  (U.S. Patent No. 5,216,275)Following a bench trial, the district court found that the accused products did not infringe the ‘257 patent. The Appellate Panel agreed with the district court and affirmed.

Because we affirm the district court’s claim construction, we must also agree with its conclusion that neither Infineon’s nor ST’s accused devices infringe the ‘275 patent.  We also find that, because a full construction of the claims was never completed prior to the district court’s final judgment, the district court could not have changed the claim construction and therefore did not abuse its discretion in denying PMT’s new trial motion.  Regarding Infineon’s cross-appeal, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Infineon’s costs under either Rule 11 or 35 U.S.C. ยง 285.  Finally, we find that, in light of IR’s representations to the district court, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying IR’s motion for costs under Rule 54(d).  Accordingly, the district court’s judgment of noninfringement, its denial of PMT’s motion for a new trial, and its denial of Infineon’s requests for fees and IR’s request for costs are all