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<i>Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc.</i>

By Matthew Siegal and Irah H. Donner

In Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc., __ F.3d __, 106 USPQ2d 1554, 2013 WL 1776745 (Fed. Cir. 2013), the Federal Circuit held that the functional claim language of “spaced relationship” was definite in view of the inherent parameters of the claimed apparatus, notwithstanding the lack of any specific quantification of exactly how wide the spacing should be. In addition, the Federal Circuit held that functional language may be used to limit patent claims without resorting to the means-plus-function format and that it was acceptable to define “spaced relationship” in terms of the function the spacing was intended to provide.

Biosig Instruments, Inc. (“Biosig”) is the assignee of U.S. Patent No. 5,337,753 (“the '753 patent”), which relates to grip activated heart rate monitors associated with exercise equipment, which are now ubiquitous on treadmills, step climbers and excercycles. The invention purportedly eliminates noise signals that interfere with the process of detecting a user's heart rate. Prior art monitors allegedly did not eliminate signals given off by skeletal muscles (“electromyogram” or “EMG” signals), which are caused when users move their arms or squeeze the monitor with their fingers. Because EMG signals are of the same frequency range as electrical signals generated by the heart (“electrocardiograph” or “ECG” signals), EMG signals can interfere with ECG signals, making it difficult to determine heart rate during exercise.

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