Synvasive Corp. v. Stryker Corp.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Currently before the court is defendant Stryker Corporation’s motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of two patents held by plaintiff Synvasive Corporation, with attendant issues of claim construction.

1. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Synvasive is the assignee of U.S. Patents 6,022,353 (“the ’353 patent”) and 6,503,253 (“the ’253 patent”), both of which claim surgical saw blades and related methods of using surgical saw blades, and are based on a patent application filed with the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) on May 30, 1991. (Pl.’s Opp’n to Mot. for Summ. J. 1, 4.) The ’253 patent is a continuation of the ’353 patent; thus, although the claims in the two patents differ, they share a common specification. (Id. at 4.) The ’353 patent issued on February 8, 2000; the ’253 patent issued on January 7, 2003. (Compile 5, 7.) Plaintiff alleges that defendant’s products infringe Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 of the ’353 patent, and Claims 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14-18 of the ’253 patent. (Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J. Ex. D (Pl.’s Am. Resp. to Def.’s Interrog. No. 2); see also PL’s Opp’n to Mot. for Summ. J.…