Canos of Claim Construction Requie Reversal

Digital-Vending Services International, LLC v. The University of Phoenix, Inc., [2011-1216] (March 7, 2012) [RADER, Linn, Moore] The Federal Circuit vacated summary judgment of non-infringement as to some claims and affirmed summary judgment of non-infringement as to other claims, and remanded.
DISCUSSION: The Federal Circuit noted that a party may not introduce new claim construction arguments on appeal or alter the claim construction positions it took below, and refused to consider arguments not presented to the court below. The Federal Circuit relied on a number of Canons of claim construction, including that a claim term is presumed to have the same meaning throughout all of the claims, in the absence of any reason to believe otherwise. The Federal Circuit also relied upon the rule that "claims are interpreted with an eye toward giving effect to all terms in the claim." The Federal Circuit also noted that the specification avoided any hint that the inventors clearly disavowed claim scope. Finally the Federal Circuit noted the rule that because the prosecution history represents an ongoing negotiation between the PTO and the applicant, rather than the final product of that negotiation, it often lacks the clarity of the the specification, and thus is less useful for claim construction purposes. The Federal Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment on non-infringement of the affected claims, but affirmed as the the remanider