3:25-cv-05399
W.D. Wash.
Jun 12, 2026

KNIGHT WALL SYSTEMS INC., Plaintiff, v. ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL PRODUCTS LLC, Defendant.

CASE NO. 3:25-cv-05399-DGE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA

June 12, 2026

David G. Estudillo

MINUTE ORDER

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, United States District Judge David G. Estudillo:

On June 10, 2026, the Court held a claims construction hearing regarding certain terms in United States Patent No. 9,732,518 (the “518 Patent“). Pursuant to the Court‘s oral ruling, the Court orders as follows:

  1. “coextensive with the first side of the fastening member”: The Court finds this term is consistent with its plain and ordinary meaning. A person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA“) would understand the meaning of this term, which is supported by the patent‘s specifications. The specifications discuss the purpose of the communication between a girt or bracket with the stud and/or the sheathing. Defendant‘s proposed construction, which uses words such as “entire” and “encompasses” imports limitations in conflict with the plain language of the claim, which states the isolator plate is “sized to be approximately” coextensive with the first side of the fastening member.1
  2. “fastening member”: The Court finds this term is consistent with its plain and ordinary meaning. A POSITA would understand what this term means in the context of the claims and specifications, which describe fastening members as being made of metal and a girt, bracket or some other piece of hardware.
  3. “positioning structure”: The Court finds this term is consistent with its plain and ordinary meaning. Defendant‘s proposed construction imports limitations which are in conflict with the plain language of the claim, which describes structures “such as” tabs or hooks, and contemplates other structures for removably affixing the isolator plate to the fastening member.
  4. “sheathing”: The Court finds this term is consistent with its plain and ordinary meaning. A POSITA would understand the meaning of this term in the context of building envelopes and exterior cladding.
  5. “coextensive with a region defined between the first side of the fastening member and the sheathing”: The Court finds this term is consistent with its plain and ordinary meaning, for the same reasons identified in connection with the first term construed.

Dated this 12th day of June, 2026.

The foregoing Minute Order authorized by THE HONORABLE DAVID G. ESTUDILLO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

Notes

1
The Court acknowledges Defendant‘s argument that Plaintiff‘s claim construction expert, Alexander J. Kosis, appears to be incorrect in opining that “communication” as used in the ‘518 Patent at 4:41–44 “means the transfer of thermal energy, which occurs at locations where the fastening member is secured to the stud with the fastener.” (See Dkt. No. 49-2 at 16–17.)