20
Syllabus
may be more suitable to different cases, depending on their particular facts. The Court leaves it to the Federal Circuit's sound judgment in this area of its special expertise to refine the formulation of the test for equivalence in the orderly course of case-by-case determinations. Pp. 39-40. 2. Because the Federal Circuit did not consider all of the requirements of the doctrine of equivalents as described by the Court in this case, particularly as related to prosecution history estoppel and the preservation of some meaning for each element in a claim, further proceedings are necessary. Pp. 40-41.
62 F. 3d 1512, reversed and remanded.
Thomas, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Ginsburg, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Kennedy, J., joined, post, p. 41.
Richard G. Taranto argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were H. Bartow Farr III and J. Robert Chambers.
Deputy Solicitor General Wallace argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Days, Assistant Attorney General Bingaman, Cornelia T. L. Pillard, Nancy J. Linck, and Albin F. Drost.
David E. Schmit argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.*
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for Gateway Technologies, Inc., by Richard Grant Lyon; for GHZ Equipment Co. by Ronald D. Maines and Richard G. Wilkins; for the Information Technology Industry Council et al. by Joel M. Freed, Jerrold J. Ganzfried, John F. Cooney, and William D. Coston; for the Intellectual Property Owners by Carter G. Phillips, Mark E. Haddad, and Joseph R. Guerra; for MCI Telecommunications Corp. by Paul M. Smith and Nory Miller; for Micron Separations, Inc., by Steven M. Bauer and John J. Cotter; and for Seagate Technology, Inc., et al. by Carrie L. Walthour, Karl A. Limbach, Deborah Bailey-Wells, and Edward P. Heller III.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the Biotechnology Industry Organization by Charles E. Ludlam; for Chiron Corp. by Donald S. Chisum; for the Dallas-Fort Worth Intellectual Property Law Association by Lawrence J. Bassuk; for Litton Systems, Inc., by Laurence
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007