Reasonable Claim Construction Supporting Noninfringement Position Warrants Summary Judgment of No Willfulness

The magistrate judge recommended granting defendant's motion for summary judgment of no willful infringement as to plaintiff's pulse oximetry patent. "[Defendant's] proposed claim construction of [a term], under which it would not have infringed, was reasonable and credible as it relied on statements which identified the present invention as a signal processor that used a correlation canceller. Although [defendant's] claim construction was eventually rejected by the district judge after objections were filed against this court’s construction, since [defendant] 'asserted reasonable constructions under which its products would not infringe precludes a finding that the first prong of [In re Seagate Tech., LLC, 497 F.2d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007)] is satisfied.'. . . This court held the written description regarding [two claims] were inadequate and granted summary judgment in favor of [defendant]. The partial success of its invalidity defenses lend credibility to the reasonableness of [defendant's] actions which defeats the objective prong of Seagate."

Masimo Corporation v. Philips Electronics North America Corporation, et. al., 1-09-cv-00080 (DED June 14, 2013, Order) (Thynge, M.J.).