ICU Medical, Inc. v. B. Braun Medical, Inc.

CLAIM CONSTRUCTION ORDER

This suit involves the alleged infringement of United States Patent No. 6,669,-673 (the “ ’673 Patent”). The ’673 Patent discloses a valve to be used in medical environments to connect two fluid-carrying instruments allowing transmission of fluids between them. Now before the Court is the task of construing certain claim terms over which the parties remain in dispute.

A. Legal Standard

Patent infringement analysis involves two steps. The first step is to construe the asserted claims, and the second step is to determine whether the accused method or product infringes any of the claims as properly construed. See Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967, 976 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc), aff'd 517 U.S. 370 , 116 S.Ct. 1384 , 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996). The first step, construction of the patent claims, is a matter of law and thus the responsibility of the court. See id. at 979.

“[I]n interpreting an asserted claim, the court should look first tó intrinsic evidence of record, i.e., the patent itself, including the claims, the specification and, if in evidence, the prosecution history.” Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576, 1582…