W.E. Hall v. Atlanta Corrugating

ribbed_pipe
W.E. Hall Company, Inc. v. Atlanta Corrugating, LLC (Fed. Cir. June 7, 2004)

In a patent infringement suit, the Federal Circuit affirmed the lower court’s claim construction and noninfringement summary judgment. (U.S. Patent 4,838,317, on a Hydraulically Efficient Ribbed Pipe)

Appellant argued that ambiguity in the written description and prosecution history warranted a special meaning for several contested terms. The court disagreed:

Where, as here, the written description and prosecution history are ambiguous as to whether the patentee used the claim terms inconsistent with their ordinary and customary meanings, it is the ordinary and customary meanings that the terms obtain.