Intercontinental Great Brands LLC v. Kellogg N. Am. Co., No. 13 C 321, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sep. 22, 2014) (Kennelly, J.).

Judge Kennelly construed the terms in this patent dispute regarding repeatable food containers.  Of particular note, the Court held as follows:

• “Sealing layer” was construed as being separate from the top of the food container because the claims required that the sealing layer be sealed to the top of the container, which would not be possible if the sealing layer was part of the top of the container as proposed by plaintiff.
• “Frame” was construed as “a tray with a bottom and sides” as proposed by plaintiff.  The parties’ dispute boiled down to whether the frame was required to have sides.  The Court held that sides were required because the container was for holding food and holding food required sides.
• “Overwrap” was construed as a synonym for wrapper as it was used elsewhere in the patent.
• The Court declined, at least at this point, to construe “facing perimeter portions,” “facing Overwrap perimeter portions,” and “additional perimeter portions.”