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Fromson v. Advance Offset Plate, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
720 F.2d 1565, 219 U.S.P.Q. 1137 (1983)

Written by Eric Miller, JD

Facts

Howard Fromson (plaintiff) held a patent on an improved process for making photographic printing plates for lithographic use. The patent’s claims included a water-insoluble, hydrophilic, organophobic layer resulting from the treatment of anodized aluminum with an alkali metal silicate—a treatment Fromson referred to as a “reaction.” Some of the patent’s claims referred to the reaction as producing an aluminosilicate, but other claims used the word reaction in a more general sense. Fromson sued Advance Offset Plates, Inc. (Advance) (defendant) in federal district court for infringing several of the patent’s claims. The court found that no infringement had occurred, because Advance’s plates were not prepared using the same chemical-reaction product, which the court understood to be an aluminosilicate compound. Fromson appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Markey, C.J.)

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A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
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The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

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