Federal Circuit: Lack of Enablement Affirmed

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ELSTER ELECTRICITY v. SCHLUMBERGER (Fed. Cir. 2004) (NONPRECEDENTIAL)

In this appeal of a summary judgment of invalidity for lack of enablement, the Federal Circuit affirmed.

Elster’s patent relates to a power supply of an electric energy meter that uses a specialized transformer. (U.S. Patent 5,457,621). At the district court, the judge found that the patent lacked enablement because the specification only enabled a “controller that responds to the third winding,” while the claim required a response to the “second winding.” Elster appealed, but the Appellate Panel affirmed, holding that the “written description fails to teach a response between the second and third winding, the district court ccorrectly concluded that [the] claims … were not enabled.”