Federal Circuit Upholds Noninfringement Ruling for Fortress Iron in Fence Assembly Patent Dispute

Foley & Lardner LLP achieved a notable win for Fortress Iron LP and Fortress Fence Products LLC (collectively Fortress) in a patent infringement dispute concerning fence assembly technology. The case originated in August 2021 when Barrette Outdoor Living filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging that Fortress’s products infringed several patents related to internal connectors for fence panels.

The patents at issue described connectors that allowed fence pickets to pivot relative to rails. Central to the dispute were patent claim terms such as “boss,” “projection,” and “nub,” which described features of the internal connectors. Foley’s litigation team argued at the district court level that these terms should be narrowly construed to cover only fastener-less structures that are integral to the connectors themselves.

The district court adopted Foley’s proposed claim construction, limiting the scope of these terms to integral features rather than separate fasteners. Under this interpretation, Barrette’s infringement theory faltered because the accused Fortress products employed separate fasteners instead of integral bosses or projections as defined by the court.

Consequently, the district court granted judgment of noninfringement in favor of Fortress. Barrette appealed this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, challenging the district court’s narrow claim construction as overly restrictive.

On October 17, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision affirming the district court’s claim construction. The appellate court agreed that the patent claims were properly limited to “integral bosses and projections,” thereby upholding the noninfringement judgment for Fortress.

This outcome highlights Foley & Lardner LLP’s expertise in navigating complex patent claim construction issues and successfully defending clients in high-stakes patent litigation and appeals.

The Foley intellectual property litigation team was led by partner Paul Storm and of counsel Jake May, who guided Fortress through both the district court proceedings and the Federal Circuit appeal.

The case underscores the critical importance of precise claim construction in patent infringement disputes, particularly when patent terms describe structural features that may or may not be integral to an accused product’s design.