Eastern District of Michigan Clamps Down on Welker Bearing’s Infringement Claims

Posted on | March 6, 2008 | No Comments

2008-1169 Welker Bearing v. PHD
ED/MI 06-CV-13345

Plaintiff Welker Bearing has appealed Judge Gerald Rosen’s claim construction and grant of summary judgment (noninfringement) in favor of PHD. Welker Bearing’s 6,786,478 and 6,913,254 patents are directed toward pin clamps used to hold work pieces in welding and manufacturing. When an effort to license those patents failed in 2004, PHD began selling competing clamps.  Judge Rosen wrote, "disposition of this infringement suit turns largely upon the extent of Defendant’s success in designing around the inventions disclosed in the two patents-in-suit."  And he found that design around to be a success. Judge Rosen determined that the key disputed claim term — "mechanism" — was a means-plus-function limitation under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6 and held that PHD did not infringe because its clamps lacked the structure that he concluded corresponded to "mechanism." 

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