Atlantic Thermoplastics Co. Inc. v. Faytex Corp.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
970 F.2d 834 (1992)
Relevant factsFree
Atlantic Thermoplastics Co., Inc. (Atlantic) (plaintiff) owned a patent with product-by-process claims covering a shock-absorbing shoe innersole. Faytex Corp. (Faytex) (defendant) did not manufacture innersoles itself but purchased them from two suppliers, Surge and Sorbothane. The parties agreed the Surge innersole was made by the claimed process and infringed. The district court found that Sorbothane's identical-looking innersole was made by a different, unclaimed process and therefore did not infringe, meaning Faytex's sale of Sorbothane's product also did not infringe.
IssueFree
Whether a product-by-process patent claim covers only a product actually made by the claimed process.
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