DISTRICT COURT DID NOT CRITICALLY COMPARE PRIOR ART TO CLAIMED INVENTION

Süd-Chemie, Inc., v. Multisorb Technologies, Inc., [2008-1247] (January 30, 2009) [BRYSON, Rader, Friedman] The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded summary judgment of invalidity of U.S. Patent No. 5,743,942 on a desiccant container.
DISCUSSION: The district court found that the prior art reference disclosed the layers of the same material, as required by the patent’s claims, but the Federal Circuit noted that the district court looked only to the classes of materials described in the patents and did not examine the softening points of the materials. The Federal Circuit found that the district failed to recognize that reference actually discloses the use of incompatible materials while the ’942 patent requires compatible materials. The Federal Circuit found that the district court incorrectly concluded that reference taught the same container as that claimed in the ’942 patent.