Circuit Tosses Tiff Over Diaper-Changing Stations

WASHINGTON (CN) - A manufacturer of restroom diaper-changing stations did not infringe on a competitor's patent for vandalism-resistant changing stations, the Federal Circuit ruled.

Judge Moore found that Bobrick Washroom Equipment's stainless-steel design was not too similar to that of Brocar Products Inc. Both products are designed to resist vandalism.

Brocar appealed the district court's definition of "partially hidden from view," in describing the surface that receives the baby when it is in the closed position. Brocar claimed the term means the same as "generally hidden from view."

"If Brocar had intended to use these terms to describe the platform top surface, it should have," Moore said.

Instead, the court ruled that the term means "hidden from view to some extent but not totally hidden from view."

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