General Kinematics Corp. v. Carrier Vibrating Equipment, No. 08 C 1264, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jul. 27, 2009) (Coar, J.).

Judge Coar construed the claims of declaratory judgment defendant’s patent for a vibratory conveyor system.  The following constructions were particularly interesting:

• The Court noted that declaratory judgment plaintiff did not separately define the function and structure for the means plus function elements.  While there was no direct impact from the failure to define function and structure separately, the Court noted that the definitions did not assist its constructions.
• The structure of one means plus function element was not just a generic controller, but a controller as described in the specification and figures, as well as equivalents of them.