Willfulness and enhancement vacated, but exceptionality finding affirmed

This opinion was superseded.  SRI International v. Cisco was decided on March 20, 2019 on appeal from the District of Delaware. The district court denied defendant Cisco’s motion for summary judgment of patent ineligibility and anticipation. At trial, the jury found willful infringement, and awarded plaintiff SRI a 3.5% reasonable royalty rate …

Lower court did not err in using aggregate method instead of apportionment to award fees

Drop Stop v. Zhu is a nonprecedential case decided on February 8, 2019 on appeal from the Central District of California. After the parties reached a settlement stipulating to infringement of some claims, plaintiff Drop Stop moved for attorney fees. The district court granted the motion and awarded $600,000 in fees …

Attorney fees reversed because plaintiff was no longer the prevailing party

Imperium v. Samsung is a nonprecedential case decided on January 31, 2019 on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. After a jury verdict against defendant Samsung, the district court concluded that plaintiff Imperium was entitled to attorney fees as a prevailing party. Samsung appealed. The Federal Circuit reversed the attorney fees …

What We Learned About Patent Remedies In 2018

2018 was a big year for patent remedies, the most important decision being the Supreme Court’s WesternGeco v. ION, which opened the door to foreign damages for patent infringement. 1. A Patentee may recover foreign lost profits for infringement under Section 271(f)(2) Under Section 271(f)(2) of the Patent Act, it …

In considering attorney fees, the district court need not resolve issues mooted by the case

Spineology v. Wright Medical was decided on December 14, 2018 on appeal from the District of Minnesota. The district court granted defendant Wright’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement. The district court then denied Wright’s motion for attorney fees, holding that plaintiff Spineology’s positions were not so meritless as to render …

A patent litigation remedies profile of the District of Delaware

This post will organize various patent litigation decisions from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (D. Del.). The focus will be on patent infringement remedies, particularly damages and injunctions.   Patent Jury Verdicts: Below are the patent jury verdicts from the District of Delaware between 2015 …

A patent remedies case study on Bard v. Gore

This post will track the issued remedies in the patent dispute between Bard Peripheral Vascular and WL Gore & Associates. The post will not cover patent invalidity decisions from the USPTO or the district court. The dispute started in 2003 with a complaint by Bard against Gore in the District of Arizona and ended …

Fees for entire suit proper where plaintiff’s misconduct permeated the entire case

Large Audience Display v. Tennman is a nonprecedential case decided on August 20, 2018 on appeal from the Central District of California. After the PTO issued an IPR certificate cancelling all of Plaintiff Large Audience’s claims asserted in the district court, the district court dismissed the case with prejudice. On remand …

USPTO’s attorney fees do not fall within Section 145’s “expenses” after district court appeal

Nantkwest v. Iancu was decided en banc on July 27, 2018 on appeal from the Eastern District of Virginia. The USPTO rejected Nantkwest’s patent application on obviousness grounds. The PTAB affirmed the rejection, and Nantkwest appealed to the district court under 35 U.S.C. § 145. After prevailing at the district court, the …

It was error to award all requested fees without causal connection between the misconduct and the award

Rembrandt v. Comcast was decided on July 27, 2018 on appeal from the District of Delaware. After several years of litigation by plaintiff Rembrandt “against dozens of cable companies, cable equipment manufacturers, and broadcast networks,” the district court “entered final judgment against Rembrandt as to all claims.” After an adverse claim construction, …