EVOLUSION CONCEPTS, INC. v. JUGGERNAUT TACTICAL, INC.

Evolusion sued Juggernaut alleging that Juggernaut’s “Hellfighter Mod Kits” infringe U.S. Patent No. 8,756,845 relating to a device and method for converting a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine to one with a fixed magazine. On the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment regarding infringement, the district court granted Juggernaut summary judgment of non-infringement. The district court ruled that the term “magazine catch bar” in the asserted claims excludes a factory-installed magazine catch bar, a claim construction that concededly precludes literal infringement.  Evolusion appealed. The CAFC finds that the specification 1) nowhere limits the scope of a “magazine catch bar” to exclude factory-installed ones from the assembly that achieves the fixed-magazine goal; 2) does not explain that only a customized or modified magazine catch bar, one necessarily different from what was factory installed, may be used on the firearm; and 3) does not suggest that factory (or OEM) provenance of a bar disqualifies it from being part of the invention if, as a structural matter, it is a magazine catch bar under the ordinary meaning. The CAFC finds that the specification simply explains that the described embodiments of the invention all include a “magazine catch bar” that can be securely attached to the lower receiver of the firearm, and consistently describes the component in generic terms. The CAFC holds that the term “magazine catch bar” in the asserted claims includes a factory-installed magazine catch bar and, therefore, reverses the grant of summary judgment of non-infringement, reverses the denial of summary judgment of direct infringement, and remands for further proceedings.

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