DCT
5:23-cv-06309
The Schedule A
Key Events
Complaint
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Shenzhen Alex Technology Co., Ltd. (China)
- Defendant: Individuals, Corporations, Limited Companies, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A Hereto (Foreign Jurisdictions)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Apex Attorneys at Law, LLP
- Case Identification: 4:23-cv-06309, N.D. Cal., 12/06/2023
- Venue Allegations: Plaintiff alleges venue is proper because Defendants target business activities toward U.S. consumers, including those in California, through interactive e-commerce stores on Amazon.com, and have allegedly sold infringing products to California residents.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ electric ear wax cleaner products infringe a patent related to the mechanical design and ergonomic features of an ear, nose, and throat irrigator.
- Technical Context: The technology concerns handheld personal medical devices designed to irrigate the ear canal, with patented features aimed at improving user comfort, stability, and reducing liquid splashing.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint alleges that Defendants gained actual knowledge of the patent-in-suit’s underlying application in November 2022 when they approached the Plaintiff to purchase products, an allegation that forms the basis for Plaintiff's willfulness claim.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2021-07-13 | ’534 Patent Priority Date |
| 2022-11-01 | Approximate date Defendants allegedly became aware of the patent application (referenced as "November 2022") |
| 2023-11-28 | ’534 Patent Issue Date |
| 2023-12-06 | Complaint Filing Date |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
U.S. Patent No. 11,826,534 - "Ear, Nose, and Throat Irrigator"
- Patent Identification: U.S. Patent No. 11,826,534, "Ear, Nose, and Throat Irrigator," issued November 28, 2023 (the "’534 Patent").
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: The patent’s background section states that during conventional irrigation procedures, "washing liquid is prone to splash around," which can splash on the user or the device, making it "inconvenient to use" (’534 Patent, col. 1:18-24).
- The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a handheld irrigator with two main features to solve this problem. First, a "shielding cover" is arranged on the spray head, which is "configured to shield water sprayed from the spray head" and prevent splashing (’534 Patent, Abstract; col. 3:30-32). Second, the device housing is configured in a "7" shape, which allows for an ergonomic arrangement where the heavier water pump is placed in the vertical portion to lower the center of gravity, and the power supply is in the horizontal portion, making the device more stable and "labor-saving" for the user (’534 Patent, col. 5:49-65; Fig. 2).
- Technical Importance: The design aims to improve the usability and convenience of personal ear irrigation devices by making them cleaner to operate and more comfortable to hold.
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts independent claim 16 and dependent claims 17-18 (Compl. ¶22).
- The essential elements of independent claim 16 include:
- An irrigator comprising a bottle body, a housing, a water pump, a first tube body, a second tube body, and a shielding cover.
- A series of connections defining the fluid path: the first tube draws liquid from the bottle to the pump’s inlet, and the second tube carries liquid from the pump’s outlet to a spray head.
- The shielding cover is arranged on the spray head and is configured to shield sprayed water.
- The housing has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion "connected in a '7' shape."
- The water pump is arranged in the vertical portion of the housing, and a power supply is arranged in the horizontal portion.
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
- The accused products are identified as "electric ear wax cleaner[s]" sold by Defendants on e-commerce platforms (Compl. ¶15, ¶21).
Functionality and Market Context
- The complaint alleges the accused products are handheld, battery-powered devices that pump liquid from an attached bottle through a spray nozzle for the purpose of ear irrigation (Compl. ¶¶15, 21). The complaint provides several photographs of a disassembled accused product, showing its core components, including a bottle, a housing containing a water pump and power supply, internal tubing, a spray head, and a shielding cover (Compl. pp. 6-7). This photographic evidence with callouts identifies each component alleged to correspond to a feature of the patented invention (Compl. p. 7).
- The products are allegedly marketed and sold to U.S. consumers, including those in California, through online stores operating on Amazon.com (Compl. ¶14).
IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations
’534 Patent Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 16) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| An ear, nose, and throat irrigator, comprising: a bottle body, a housing, a water pump, a first tube body, a second tube body, and a shielding cover | The accused product is an ear irrigator comprising these same components, as identified in photographs of a disassembled unit. | ¶22 | col. 1:32-35 |
| wherein a first end of the housing is connected with the bottle body; a spray head is arranged on a second end of the housing; the water pump is arranged in the housing | The accused product’s housing connects to the bottle body, has a spray head at its distal end, and contains the water pump internally. | ¶22 | col. 3:21-24 |
| a first end of the first tube body is inserted into the bottle body; a second end of the first tube body is connected with a water inlet joint of the water pump | The accused product’s first tube body extends into the bottle and connects to the water pump’s inlet. | ¶22 | col. 3:24-27 |
| a first end of the second tube body is connected with a water outlet joint of the water pump; a second end of the second tube body is connected with the spray head | The accused product’s second tube body connects the water pump’s outlet to the spray head. | ¶22 | col. 3:27-30 |
| the shielding cover is arranged on the spray head; the shielding cover is configured to shield water sprayed from the spray head | The accused product includes a shielding cover mounted on its spray head. The complaint provides a photograph of the accused product showing the housing, spray head, and shielding cover (Compl. p. 6). | ¶22 | col. 3:30-32 |
| wherein the housing comprises a vertical portion and a horizontal portion; the vertical portion and the horizontal portion are connected in a "7" shape | The accused product's housing is alleged to have vertical and horizontal portions connected in a "7" shape, as shown in complaint photographs. | ¶22 | col. 5:49-53 |
| the ear, nose, and throat irrigator further comprises a power supply; the power supply is arranged in the horizontal portion; the water pump is arranged in the vertical portion | The accused product contains a power supply in the horizontal part of its housing and a water pump in the vertical part, as depicted in an internal view of the device (Compl. p. 7). | ¶22 | col. 5:53-57 |
- Identified Points of Contention:
- Scope Questions: The claim requires the housing's portions to be "connected in a '7' shape." The infringement analysis may turn on how this geometric term is construed. A potential question is whether this limitation requires a specific angle and proportion, as shown in the patent's figures, or if it can be read more broadly to cover any general pistol-grip or L-shaped housing.
- Technical Questions: The complaint's infringement allegations are based on a structural, component-by-component comparison supported by photographs. A potential point of contention could be functional. For instance, what evidence demonstrates that the accused "shielding cover" is in fact "configured to shield water" as the claim requires, beyond its mere presence on the spray head?
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "connected in a '7' shape"
- Context and Importance: This term defines the overall form factor of the device. Its construction is critical because it distinguishes the claimed ergonomic design from other possible configurations. Practitioners may focus on this term to determine if the accused product's housing, which appears to be a pistol-grip design, falls within the scope of this specific geometric language.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The specification describes the functional purpose of this shape as being "to facilitate washing by the user" and to lower the device's center of gravity, making it "labor-saving" (’534 Patent, col. 5:58-65). This functional description could support a construction that is not strictly limited to the drawing's exact geometry but covers other shapes achieving the same ergonomic benefits.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent figures, particularly Figure 2, depict a specific embodiment with a distinct angle between the vertical portion (210) and horizontal portion (220). A party could argue the term should be construed more narrowly to conform to this visual representation.
The Term: "shielding cover"
- Context and Importance: The shielding cover is presented as a key solution to the splashing problem identified in the patent's background. The meaning of this term is central to the infringement case for the primary novel feature.
- Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The claim itself provides a functional definition: the cover is "configured to shield water sprayed from the spray head" (’534 Patent, col. 6:62-63). This suggests that any structure attached to the spray head that performs this shielding function could meet the limitation.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The detailed description discloses specific features of the shielding cover, such as being "transparent" (’534 Patent, col. 5:6), having a magnifying effect (col. 5:16-24), and having a "curved surface" that is "recessed toward the housing" (col. 5:25-30). A defendant may argue that the term should be interpreted in light of these more specific embodiments.
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint includes a count for induced infringement, alleging Defendants "actively induc[ed] others to practice the '534 Patent" (Compl. ¶32). However, the complaint does not provide specific facts supporting the element of intent, such as citations to user manuals, advertisements, or other instructions that would encourage infringing use.
- Willful Infringement: Willfulness is alleged based on Defendants having "Actual Knowledge of Infringement" (Compl. ¶37). The complaint alleges that Defendants became "well-aware of the patent application" in November 2022, over a year before the patent issued, when they allegedly contacted the Plaintiff about purchasing products (Compl. ¶37). This allegation of pre-issuance knowledge of the application forms the basis for the claim of willful post-issuance infringement.
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of definitional scope: can the term "connected in a '7' shape," which describes a specific geometry, be construed broadly enough to read on the accused product’s pistol-grip housing, or will it be limited to a design that more closely tracks the patent’s drawings?
- A second key issue will be evidentiary: the infringement case is presented via photographs showing structural similarity. This raises the question of whether Plaintiff can provide functional evidence that the accused product's components, particularly the "shielding cover," perform the specific functions required by the claims, moving the dispute beyond a simple visual comparison.
- A third question relates to willfulness: the case will test whether alleged pre-suit knowledge of a pending patent application is sufficient to support a finding of willful infringement for acts that occurred only after the patent later issued, particularly given the very short time between patent issuance and the filing of the complaint.