Kenney Mfg Co

No. 2010–1291. - McKESSON TECHNOLOGIES INC LLC v. EPIC SYSTEMS ...

Paul D. Clement, King & Spalding LLP, of Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant. With him on the brief were Daryl Joseffer; and Timothy G. Barber and Adam M. Conrad, of Charlotte, NC.Steven D. Moore, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, of Atlanta, GA, argued for defendants-appellees. With him on the brief were William H. Boice, Russell A. Korn, D. Clay Holloway, and Jason D. Gardner; and Adam H. Charnes of Winston–Salem, NC.

McKesson Technologies Inc. (“McKesson”) appeals the district court's grant of Epic Systems Corporation's (“Epic”) renewed motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of claims 1–10, 12–14, and 16–18 of U.S. Patent No. 6,757,898 (the “′898 patent”). McKesson Info. Solutions LLC v. Epic Sys. Corp., No. 06–cv–2965, 2009 WL 2915778 (N.D.Ga. Sept. 8, 2009) (“Summary Judgment Order ”). Because McKesson is unable to attribute the performance of all the steps of the asserted method claims to a single party—namely, Epic's healthcare-provider customers—this court affirms the finding of noninfringement.

Background

I. The Technology and Nature of the Dispute

McKesson's ′898 patent is directed to an electronic method of communication between healthcare providers and patients involving personalized web pages for doctors and their patients. See ′898 patent col.4 ll.3–44. This solution facilitates direct communication between patients and their doctors. See id. col.4 ll.24–40. For example, the ′898 patent discloses a system whereby a patient can access visit-specific content online following every doctor visit. Id. col.4 ll.57–63. This online content “offers the patient significantly more information than he/she could have absorbed during a typical visit with the physician.” Id. col.4 ll.63–65. This solution also increases efficiencies for both doctors and patients. See id. col.4 ll.24–40. For example, patients may submit appointment and prescription refill requests online and physicians may respond to these requests and manage callbacks at their convenience. Id. col.4 l.65–col.5 l.3; col.9 ll.37–39.

Epic is a privately owned software development company that licenses software to healthcare providers. One such product is the accused MyChart software. MyChart allows healthcare providers to associate medical records with a patient's personalized web page. MyChart also allows the patients to communicate with their healthcare provider online through these personalized MyChart web pages. In this way, patients are given access to their own medical records, treatment information, scheduling information, and other material.

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