PTAB

IPR2019-01356

Ward Mfg LLC v. Omega Flex Inc

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Key Events
Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Piping System
  • Brief Description: The ’510 patent describes a piping system designed for fluid containment, particularly for applications like corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST). The system features a fluid-carrying tube positioned inside a protective polymer sleeve, which has internal longitudinal ribs that form channels between the tube and sleeve. If the inner tube leaks, these channels direct the fluid to a coupling at the end of the sleeve, where it is vented out of the system through an opening in the coupling.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 1-2, 7-10, and 13 are obvious over Fujiyoshi, Wallace, Okubo, and AAPA.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Fujiyoshi (Japanese Publication No. JP H09-166256), Wallace (Patent 1,974,383), Okubo (Japanese Publication No. JP 2001-182879), and Applicant Admitted Prior Art (AAPA).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Fujiyoshi discloses the fundamental elements of the claimed system. This includes a corrugated metal pipe (70) inside a fluid-impermeable synthetic resin sleeve (71) with longitudinal spaces on its interior surface for routing leaked gas. Fujiyoshi also teaches a coupling (nut 3) with a ventilation passage (17) to expel the leaked gas. Petitioner contended that Wallace, which describes a hose coupling, teaches the limitation of using interior helical threads to engage an unthreaded, relatively soft outer surface of a hose to create a secure and substantial joint. The teachings of Okubo and AAPA were used to demonstrate that features like metal fittings and specific threaded connections were well-known in the CSST field.
    • Motivation to Combine: A Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSITA) would combine the teachings of Fujiyoshi and Wallace to improve the piping connection's reliability. Petitioner argued that adding Wallace's well-known helical interior threads to Fujiyoshi’s coupling was a simple modification to increase pullout resistance and prevent leaks, addressing a known problem in piping systems.
    • Expectation of Success: Combining these known elements for their intended purposes—a secure connection for a sleeved pipe—was a predictable application of existing technology and would have yielded the expected benefits without undue experimentation.

Ground 4: Claims 1-2, 7-10, and 13 are obvious over Okubo, Fujiyoshi, and Wallace.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Okubo (Japanese Publication No. JP 2001-182879), Fujiyoshi (Japanese Publication No. JP H09-166256), and Wallace (Patent 1,974,383).

  • Core Argument for this Ground:

    • Prior Art Mapping: This ground presented an alternative obviousness argument using Okubo as the primary reference. Petitioner asserted that Okubo discloses a complete corrugated pipe fitting system with a sleeved pipe and a dedicated gas leak detection opening (hole 21). To supply the specific limitation of a sleeve with "a plurality of longitudinal, spaced ribs," Petitioner relied on Fujiyoshi, which expressly teaches such a structure for routing leaked fluid. As in Ground 1, Wallace was cited to teach the use of interior helical threads on a coupling to engage an unthreaded sleeve surface, a feature not explicitly shown in Okubo.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would combine Okubo’s system with Fujiyoshi’s ribbed sleeve to improve the safety and effectiveness of leak detection. Incorporating the defined fluid channels from Fujiyoshi into Okubo’s system would ensure that any leaked gas is more reliably routed to the detection hole (21), enhancing the system's primary safety function.
    • Expectation of Success: Adding Fujiyoshi's known ribbed sleeve to Okubo's piping system represented a simple combination of compatible technologies to achieve the predictable result of improved leak routing and detection.

  • Additional Grounds: Petitioner asserted additional obviousness challenges that build upon the core combinations above.

    • Claims 4 and 5 were challenged over the Fujiyoshi-based combination (Ground 1) with the addition of Hujisawa (European Publication No. 2250031) to teach a "shoulder to form a stop" (claim 4) and Valdes (Patent 4,488,738) to teach a "coupling has a higher durometer than said sleeve" (claim 5).
    • Parallel grounds were asserted against claims 4 and 5 using the Okubo-based combination (Ground 4) in view of Hujisawa and Valdes, respectively.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • Petitioner argued that the claim terms should be given their plain and ordinary meaning and that no express construction was necessary for the Board to find the challenged claims unpatentable.
  • However, Petitioner preemptively addressed the term "interior threads," noting that the Patent Owner, in co-pending district court litigation, had allegedly contended the term could be met by a rubber seal. Petitioner argued that if the Board were to adopt such a broad interpretation, the prior art would still render the claims obvious. Specifically, Fujiyoshi’s T-shaped watertight washer (4) and Okubo’s ring-shaped washer (29) would meet this limitation as they function as annular interior ridges engaging the sleeve.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests the institution of an inter partes review and cancellation of claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-10, and 13 of Patent 7,004,510 as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §103.