throbber
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
`WACO DIVISION
`
`ECOFACTOR, INC.,
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`ECOBEE.,
`
`Defendant.
`
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`§
`CLAIM CONSTRUCTION ORDER
`
`LEAD CASE: W-21-CV-00428-ADA
`MEMBER CASE: W-20-CV-00078-
`ADA
`
`Before the Court are the Parties’ claim construction briefs in W-21-CV-00428: Defendant
`
`ecobee’s (“ecobee”) Opening Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 26), Plaintiff EcoFactor, Inc.’s
`
`(“EcoFactor”) Response to Defendant’s Opening Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 27),
`
`Defendant’s Reply in Support of its Opening Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 29), Plaintiff’s
`
`Sur-Reply in Response to Defendant’s Opening Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 32), and the
`
`Joint Claim Construction Statement (ECF No. 34). The Court provided the parties with its
`
`Preliminary Claim Constructions, and on March 22, 2022, the Court held a Markman hearing.
`
`Before the Court are the Parties’ claim construction briefs in W-20-CV-0078: Ecobee’s
`
`Opening Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 32), EcoFactor’s Opening Claim Construction Brief
`
`(ECF No. 33), Plaintiff’s Responsive Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 34), Defendant’s
`
`Responsive Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 35), Defendant’s Reply Claim Construction Brief
`
`(ECF No. 36), Plaintiff’s Reply Claim Construction Brief (ECF No. 37), and the Joint Claim
`
`Construction Statement (ECF No. 38). The Court provided the parties with its Preliminary Claim
`
`Constructions, and on December 9, 2020, the Court held a Markman hearing.
`
`Exhibit 1033
`
`001
`
`

`

`The Court issues this Order to memorialize the Court’s final claim construction rulings for
`
`the parties in both cases, and to inform the parties that the Court plans to issue a more-detailed
`
`Order explaining its analysis in due course.
`
`SIGNED this 10th day of May, 2023.
`
`
`
`
`002
`
`

`

`I.
`
`AGREED CONSTRUCTIONS - W-20-CV-00078:
`
`Term
`
`Agreed Construction
`
`“setpoint”
`
`’492 patent claims 1, 8-10, 17, 18
`“compare(s)”
`
`’488 patent claims 1, 9;
`’327 patent claims 1, 11
`
`“measurement of the current outdoor
`temperature”
`
`’382 patent claim 5
`
`
`“a temperature setting for a thermostat to achieve or maintain”
`
`“analyze to determine one or more similarities or differences
`between”
`
`“measurement of the outdoor temperature at the present time”
`
`Term
`No.
`1
`
`2
`
`3
`
`
`
`II.
`
`DISPUTED CONSTRUCTIONS - W-20-CV-00078:
`
`Plaintiff’s Proposed
`Construction
`“the difference between two
`inside temperature
`measurements over a particular
`span of time between the
`measurements”
`
`Defendant’s Proposed
`Construction
`“the difference between inside
`temperature measurements
`divided by the span of time
`between the measurements (i.e.,
`∆T/∆t)”
`
`Court’s Final Construction
`
`“the difference between inside
`temperature measurements
`divided by the span of time
`between the measurements”
`
`Term
`No.
`1
`
`Term
`
`“rate of change in
`inside temperature”
`
`’488 patent claims 1, 9;
`’327 patent claims 1,11
`
`“rate of change in
`temperature inside the
`[said] structure”
`
`
`003
`
`

`

`2
`
`3
`
`4
`
`’488 patent claims 8,
`16
`’327 patent claims 5,
`15
`“measurement[s]”
`“measurement[s]”;
`“measurement of
`outside temperatures”;
`“temperature
`measurement inside a
`structure”; temperature
`measurements from
`inside the structure”;
`“measurement of at
`least one characteristic
`of the building”;
`“measurement of the
`current outdoor
`temperature”
`
`’488, ’327, and ’382
`patents, all claims
`’488 Patent Claims 1
`and 9 – Indefiniteness
`
`“user interface actions
`intended to alter a
`state of one or more of
`said [networked]
`electronic devices”
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning; no
`construction necessary.
`
`“determination [of the claimed
`property] by an instrument by
`using standardized units”
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning.
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning; no
`construction necessary.
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning; no
`construction necessary.
`
`Indefinite due to lack of
`essential structural
`connections, under In re
`Collier, 397 F.2d 1003
`(C.C.P.A. 1968), and its
`progeny.
`“a user intentionally interacting
`with the device’s graphic user
`interface to alter the device’s
`state and indicate whether the
`structure is occupied”
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning.
`Not indefinite.
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning.
`
`004
`
`

`

`
`’492 patent claims 1,
`10
`“receiving [receives]
`input from said one
`or more users”
`
`’492 patent claims 1,
`10
`
`“said input from said
`one or more users”
`’492 patent claims 1, 9,
`10, 18)
`“outside temperature”
`
`’488 patent claims 1, 2,
`9, 10;
`
`’327patent claims 1, 2,
`11, 12
`“programmable
`thermostat” (’327
`patent claims 3, 13)
`
`5
`
`6
`
`7
`
`
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning; no
`construction necessary.
`
`“a user inputting a response
`to a prompt on the graphic
`user interface [display] of
`the one or more networked
`electronic devices”
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning,
`wherein “self-reported” means
`information from vendor(s).
`
`“the temperature at a location
`outside (or external to) [the
`structure]”
`
`“the actual temperature at a
`location outside (or
`external to) [the structure]”
`
`Plain and ordinary meaning.
`
`“thermostat that uses
`microprocessor-based
`circuitry to control the switch
`and operate based upon user
`determined protocols for
`temperature vs. time”
`
`“thermostat that uses
`microprocessor-based
`circuitry to control
`the switch and to
`store and operate
`based upon user
`determined protocols
`for temperature vs.
`time”
`
`“thermostat that uses
`microprocessor-based circuitry
`to control the switch and that
`can be programmed with user-
`determined protocols for
`temperature vs. time, upon
`which it operates.”
`
`005
`
`

`

`III. AGREED CONSTRUCTIONS - W-22-CV-00428:
`
`Term
`
`Claims
`
`Agreed Construction
`
`A system for reducing the
`usage of a ventilation
`system comprising
`rate of change of
`temperatures inside the
`structure
`A process for optimizing
`the delay enforced by a
`thermostatic controller
`after said thermostatic
`controller turns a
`ventilation system off
`prior to allowing said
`thermostatic controller to
`signal said ventilation
`system to turn on again
`comprising
`rates of change in
`temperature at the first
`location
`automated setpoint
`
`setpoint
`
`comparing
`
`setpoint
`
`’100 Patent, Claim 1
`
`Preamble is limiting
`
`’100 Patent, Claims 1, 9
`
`’100 Patent, Claim 9
`
`“difference between inside temperature
`measurements divided by the span of time
`between the measurements”
`Preamble is limiting
`
`’186 Patent, Claims 1, 8
`
`’597 Patent, Claim 9
`
`’597 Patent, Claim 9
`
`’597 Patent, Claim 9
`
`’890 Patent, Claim 1
`
`difference between inside temperature
`measurements divided by the span of time
`between the measurements
`A computer-calculated temperature setting for a
`thermostat to achieve or maintain
`a temperature setting for a thermostat to achieve
`or maintain
`analyzing to determine one or more similarities or
`differences between
`a temperature setting for a thermostat to achieve
`or maintain
`
`Term
`No.
`1
`
`2
`
`3
`
`4
`
`5
`
`6
`
`7
`
`8
`
`
`
`006
`
`

`

`IV. DISPUTED CONSTRUCTIONS - W-22-CV-00428:
`
`Plaintiff’s Proposed
`Construction
`No construction necessary;
`plain and ordinary meaning
`
`Defendant’s Proposed
`Construction
`Indefinite
`
`Court’s Final Construction
`
`construction necessary;
`No
`plain and ordinary meaning
`
`
`Indefinite
`
`Indefinite.
`
`Term
`No.
`1
`
`2
`
`3
`
`4
`
`
`
`
`
`Term
`
`“evaluate one or more
`parameters / evaluating
`… one or more
`parameters relating to
`the operation of the said
`ventilation system”
`
`’100 Patent, Claims 1, 9
`“the predicted rate of
`change”
`
`’597 Patent, Claim 9
`
`“protect the compressor
`from rapid cycling”
`
`’890 Patent, Claim 1
`“performance
`characteristic”
`
`’890 Patent, Claim 17
`
`“rate of change”: difference
`between inside temperature
`measurements divided by the
`span of time between the
`measurements
`
`Remainder of phrase: No
`construction necessary; plain
`and ordinary meaning
`No construction necessary;
`plain and ordinary meaning
`
`Indefinite
`
`No construction necessary;
`plain and ordinary meaning.
`
`Indefinite
`
`construction necessary;
`No
`plain and ordinary meaning
`
`
`construction necessary;
`No
`plain and ordinary meaning
`
`
`007
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket