Tetra Tech EBA Inc. v. Georgetown Rail Equipment Company, 2019 FCA 203
Justice Pelletier; Justice Dawson; Justice Webb - 2019-07-09
Read full decision. Automatically generated summary:
This appeal concerns the validity and potential infringement of two patents: one which discloses a system and method for inspecting railroad track, Canadian Patent 2,572,082 (082 Patent), and one which discloses a system and method for determining rail seat abrasion of a railroad track, Canadian Patent 2,766,249 (249 Patent). ... For the reasons that follow, I conclude that the Federal Court erred in law by failing to consider and analyze how the skilled worker would have applied the common general knowledge to the prior art. Had the Federal Court performed this exercise, it would have found that the differences between the prior art and the claims of the 082 Patent could be bridged by the skilled worker applying only the common general knowledge identified by the Court. I also conclude that the Federal Court did not err in its conclusion that the application of a tilt correction factor was not an essential element of the patent claims at issue in respect of the 249 Patent. However, the Federal Court erred by failing to find that the claims in issue on infringement, claims 7, 11 and 18 of the 249 Patent, were invalid on the ground that they were obvious.
Decision relates to:
- A-69-18 - TETRA TECH EBA INC. v. GEORGETOWN RAIL EQUIPMENT COMPANY which is an appeal from 2018 FC 70 in T-896-15