ABT Sys., LLC v. Emerson Elec. Co., No. 14-1618 (Fed. Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseThe 017 patent relates to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and explains that prior art thermostats for forced-air HVAC systems typically have two modes of operation for the system fan. The first is for operating the fan only when there is a call for heating or cooling from the thermostat, as necessary to distribute air from the heating or cooling elements to the space to be conditioned (“auto” mode). Some prior art thermostats include settings for continuous system fan operation regardless of a call for heating or cooling. The 017 patent claims an apparatus for running an HVAC system fan intermittently during periods when there is no call for heating or cooling. In a suit for infringement, a jury found the asserted claims not invalid by reason of obviousness and infringed by Emerson’s “Big Blue” thermostats. Based on a royalty rate of $2.25 per unit, the jury awarded damages of $311,379 on sales of 138,891 thermostats. The Federal Circuit reversed the judgment of noninvalidity, vacated the judgment of infringement, and remanded for dismissal. The asserted claims were obvious in light of prior art.
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