Plaintiff cannot recover pre-suit damages because of unmarked licensee products

Packet Intelligence v. NetScout was decided on July 14, 2020, on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. Plaintiff Packet Intelligence sued Defendant NetScout on two method-claims patents and one apparatus-claims patent. The jury found all claims willfully infringed, rejected NetScout’s invalidity defenses under § 102, awarded $3.5 million in …

No appellate jurisdiction for non-final judgments of lack of notice under Section 287

Iron Oak Techs. v. Microsoft is a nonprecedential case decided on June 8, 2020, on appeal from the Northern District of Texas. In 2016 and 2017, Iron Oak sued various electronics manufacturers. Because those lawsuits implicated Microsoft’s products, Declaratory Plaintiff Microsoft sued Iron Oak “seeking a declaratory judgment action that …

Patent infringement notice letter examples: Philippi-Hagenbuch v. Western Technology Service International

In Philippi-Hagenbuch v. Western Technology Service International, the Central District of Illinois made mixed findings as to whether patent infringement notice letters sent by Plaintiff’s counsel were sufficient under 35 U.S.C. § 287. The found that that the 2004 letter was sufficient to provide actual notice for damages for patent …

Marking statute limits damages even after the sale of unmarked product ceases

Artic Cat v. Bombadier Recreational was decided on February 19, 2020 on appeal from the Southern District of Florida. Plaintiff Artic Cat entered into a license agreement with a third party, which “expressly stated that [the third party] had no marking obligations.” Thereafter, the third party began making and selling …

Federal Circuit on providing actual notice under Section 287 for patent infringement damages

When there has been a failure to mark a patented product, 35 U.S.C. § 287(a) forecloses damages for infringement “except on proof that the infringer was notified of the infringement and continued to infringe thereafter, in which event damages may be recovered only for infringement occurring after such notice. Filing …

What We Learned About Patent Remedies In 2017

2017 was a busy year for patent remedies. Except for the Supreme Court decision on laches, most of the action happened in the Federal Circuit. The graph below shows how many times each decision has been cited by another court. It’s updated as to January 26, 2018.   1. Laches …

After the alleged infringer produces unmarked products, the patentee has the burden to show they’re not covered

Arctic Cat v. Bombadier was decided on December 7, 2017 on appeal from the Southern District of Florida. Before trial, defendant Bombadier unsuccessfully moved for summary judgment on several issues, including that plaintiff Artic Cat’s licensee failed to mark its products. The jury found the asserted patents not invalid, found willful infringement by …

Patentee cannot bypass marking statute by disclaiming the unmarked feature

Rembrandt v. Samsung was decided on April 17, 2017 on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. The patents related to Bluetooth technology. There, the jury found that defendant Samsung infringed plaintiff Rembrandt’s patents, and awarded $15.7 million in damages. After trial, the district court denied Samsung’s motion for JMOL on obviousness …

False marking damages require concrete evidence of causation, not general assertions

Gravelle v. Kaba is a nonprecedential case decided on April 12, 2017 on appeal from the Eastern District of North Carolina . There, defendant Kaba marked its key-cutting machines as “patent pending” for two features—although no patent application for those features was ever filed. Plaintiff Gravelle filed suit pro se, …

Letter identifying relevant patents and allegedly infringing conduct provided actual notice for pre-complaint damages

Monsanto v. Bowman was decided on September 21, 2011 on appeal from the Southern District of Indiana. The case involved many issues but this post will only focus on actual notice under § 287(a). “Since 1996, Monsanto has marketed and sold .. soybean seeds under its own brands, and licenses its technology to seed …