Free Trial Brief - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:02-cv-01723-AVC

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT EASCO HAND TOOLS, INC., ARMSTRONG TOOLS INC., KINGSLEY TOOLS INC., LEA WAY HAND TOOL CORPORATION, AND MATCO TOOLS CORPORATION, Plaintiffs, vs. HU, HOU-FEI, a/k/a BOBBY HU, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Civil Action No. 3:02 CV 1723 (AVC)

February 17, 2004

__________________________________________________________________ DEFENDANT HOU-FEI HU'S PROPOSED CLAIM CONSTRUCTIONS __________________________________________________________________ J. Hoke Peacock III Federal Bar No. ct24230 SUSMAN GODFREY L.L.P. 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 5100 Houston, Texas 77002-5096 Michael F. Heim, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct22416 Jonathan M. Pierce, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct24417 CONLEY ROSE, P.C. 7100 JP Morgan Chase Tower Houston, Texas 77002-2912 David B. Zabel, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct01382 COHEN AND WOLF, P.C. 1115 Broad Street Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604 Attorneys for Defendant and Counter-Plaintiff, Hou-Fei Hu, a/k/a Mr. Bobby Hu

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT EASCO HAND TOOLS, INC., ARMSTRONG TOOLS INC., KINGSLEY TOOLS INC., LEA WAY HAND TOOL CORPORATION, AND MATCO TOOLS CORPORATION, ) ) ) Civil Action No. 3:02 CV 1723 (AVC) ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) ) vs. ) ) March 31, 2004 HU, HOU-FEI, a/k/a BOBBY HU, ) Defendant. ) ) ___________________________________________________________________ DEFENDANT HOU-FEI HU'S PROPOSED CLAIM CONSTRUCTIONS __________________________________________________________________ Pursuant to the Court's Scheduling Order, Defendant Hou-Fei Hu submits the following claim constructions in 3:02 CV 1747 for U.S. Patent No. 6,457,387: TERMS OF RELEVANT CLAIMS OF U.S. PATENT NO. 6,457,387 Claim 17 "ratcheting tool" PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION

"a contrivance held in and worked by the hand for performing or facilitating mechanical operations engaging a toothed wheel with a pawl" "capable of turning or revolving around or about an axis or a center point" "a constituent part of any structural unit or composite whole that causes something to move by force or compulsion in a direction"

"rotatably" "drive member"

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"including" "gear wheel" "outer periphery" "pawl" "plurality" "fist"

"containing, i.e., as a whole contains parts or contains any part or element" "a wheel having teeth that engage with those of another part" "the outside external surface or boundary of a surface, body, or area" "the driving or holding link of a ratchet mechanism that permits motion in one direction only" "greater than one" "fist" is a typographical error in claim 17 made by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand this to be "first." The term "first" means "one of a series." "the middle point of, or the point equally distant from all points of, the circumference of a curved line or curved surface" "capable of transmitting functional or usable torque" "incapable of transmitting functional or usable torque" Claim 18

"center of curvature"

"engaged with" "disengaged"

"including a drive column"

"containing, i.e., as a whole contains parts or contains any part or element, a cylindrical or polygonal shaft that causes something to move by force"

Claim 19 "being coincident with a center of "occupying the same place or position as the middle point, the gear wheel" pivot, or axis around which the gear wheel revolves" Claim 21 "being arranged in a continuous "placed or adjusted to be uninterrupted in space or manner" sequence" Claim 22 "mounted" "put into position for use" 2

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"compartment" "section"

"a part or space marked or partitioned off; a separate section" "a part that is cut off or separated, separate distinct part or subdivision of anything, or one of a number of parts that can be fitted together to make a whole" "a structure or member forming an enclosure or defining a space" "capable of being moved, i.e., not fixed in one place, position, or posture" "a line of movement along a radius, i.e., going inward or outward along a radius" "in relation to the drive member"

"wall" "movable" "radial direction" "relative to the drive member" Claim 23 "bearing" "reversing plate" "pivotable about an axis"

"pressing or pushing against" "a thin, flat sheet or piece that is capable of changing the direction of a mechanism" "capable of turning about a line"

"pivotable movement of the "the reversing plate being capable of moving on or about, reversing plate being transmitted to or as if on or about, a pivot and conveying or passing that the pawl" movement along to the pawl"

Respectfully submitted, /S/ ________________________ Michael F. Heim, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct22416 Jonathan M. Pierce, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct24417 CONLEY ROSE, P.C. 7100 JP Morgan Chase Tower Houston, Texas 77002-2912

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J. Hoke Peacock III Federal Bar No. ct24230 SUSMAN GODFREY L.L.P. 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 5100 Houston, Texas 77002-5096 David B. Zabel, Esq. Federal Bar No. ct01382 COHEN AND WOLF, P.C. 1115 Broad Street Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604 Attorneys for Defendant and Counter-Plaintiff, Hou-Fei Hu, a/k/a Mr. Bobby Hu

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE This is to certify that a true and correct copy of Defendant Hou-Fei-Hu's Proposed Claim Constructions has been served on the following counsel of record, via facsimile and first class mail, postage pre-paid and properly addressed as follows on this 17th day of February, 2004, as indicated below: Via Facsimile No. (860) 275-0343 Matthew J. Becker Day, Berry & Howard, LLP CityPlace I Hartford, Connecticut 06103-3499 Via Facsimile No. (803) 256-7500 Mark C. Dukes Lloyd G. Farr Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP Keenan Building, Third Floor 1330 Lady Street P O Box 11070 (29211) Columbia, SC 29201 /S/ ____________________________________

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