Wechsler

ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Lawrence I. Wechsler is the inventor of the Portable Device for Feeding Animals, for which he owns U.S. Patent No. 5,636,592 (“the ’592 patent”), issued June 10, 1997. Plaintiff alleges that defendants Macke International Trade, Inc. (“Macke”), Anthony O’Rourke, Macke’s President and Secretary, and PetsMart, Inc. (“PetsMart”), have infringed the ’592 patent by making, using, and selling in the United States two different products, the Handi-Drink and the Handi-Drink 2 (the “HD” and the “HD2”, respectively). The Handi-Drink products are portable water dispensing and drinking devices for animals, with HD being the original device and HD2 being a second model of the device with some differences in features, structure, and functions. Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on May 8, 2000, asserting claims against all defendants for infringement in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271 (a), and against O’Rourke and Macke for inducing infringement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271 (b). Following a March 23, 2001 hearing in accordance with Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370 , 116 S.Ct. 1384 , 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996),…