Section 285 of the Patent Act provides that a district “court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.” The Supreme Court in Octane Fitness v. Icon Health held that an exceptional case “is simply one that stands out from others with respect to the substantive …
ATEN International v. Uniclass was decided on August 6, 2019 on appeal from the Central District of California. The district court granted defendant Uniclass summary judgment on plaintiff ATEN’s lost profits theory of damages. So ATEN “proceeded to trial based on a reasonable royalty theory of damages, under which its …
Automotive Body Parts Association v. Ford Global Technologies was decided on July 23, 2019 on appeal from the Eastern District of Michigan. Plaintiff Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA) sued defendant Ford seeking a declaratory judgment of invalidity or unenforceability of two design patents covering a vehicle’s hood and headlamp respectively. ABPA …
SRI International v. Cisco was originally decided on March 20, 2019, and modified on July 12, 2019 on appeal from the District of Delaware. In the modified opinion, the Federal Circuit vacated the award of attorney fees, which was based in part on the vacated willfulness finding, and remanded for further consideration …
Elbit Systems v. Hughes Network was decided on June 25, 2019 on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. The jury found that defendant Hughes infringed, and awarded plaintiff Elbit $21,075,750 in reasonable royalty damages. The district court then denied Hughes post-trial motions for JMOL for non-infringement and for a new trial …
CellSpin Soft v. Fitbit was decided on June 25, 2019 on appeal from the Northern District of California. Plaintiff CellSpin filed more than a dozen cases alleging infringement of certain patents. On a motion to dismiss, the district court found that none of the asserted claims were patent eligible. The district court found the …
Cobalt Boats v. Brunswick is a nonprecedential case decided on May 31, 2019 on appeal from the Eastern District of Virginia. At trial, the jury defendant Brunswick willfully infringed, leading to a royalty award of $2,690,000. After trial, the district court enhanced the damages by a factor of 1.5 and awarded damages …
To prevail on the defense of inequitable conduct, the accused infringer must prove that the applicant misrepresented or omitted material information with the specific intent to deceive the PTO. Therasense v. Becton, Dickinson and Co. (en banc). The accused infringer must prove both elements — intent and materiality — by clear and convincing evidence. Id. A district court should not use a …
Section 283 of the Patent Act provides that courts “may grant injunctions in accordance with the principles of equity to prevent the violation of any right secured by patent, on such terms as the court deems reasonable.” There are several types of relief for ongoing infringement that a court can …
ThermoLife v. GNC was decided on May 1, 2019 on appeal from the Southern District of California. Plaintiff ThermoLife brought suit against Defendant GNC, and other defendants, for patent infringement. This was one of 81 infringement lawsuits the exclusive licensee filed. The patents relate to “methods and compositions involving the amino …