Federal Circuit on excluding or vacating lost profit patent infringement damages

35 U.S.C. § 284 provides that “the court shall award [the patent owner] damages adequate to compensate for the infringement but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer.” “A patent owner, having prevailed on liability, may receive a reasonable royalty or lost …

Denial of permanent injunction vacated because willingness to license does not necessarily mean no irreparable harm – modified opinion –

Texas Advanced Optoelectronic v. Renesas was decided on July 9, 2018 on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. The Federal Circuit granted petition for rehearing and reissued the opinion, modifying the opinion released on May 1, 2018. The principal change relates to the evidence relied on by Texas Advanced in its …

Supreme Court holds that Section 284 permits lost profits for foreign uses of infringing components under Section 271(f)(2)

WesternGeco v. ION was decided by the Supreme Court on June 21, 2018 on appeal from the Southern District of Texas. At trial, the jury found defendant ION liable and awarded plaintiff WesternGeco $12.5 million in royalties and $93.4 million in lost profits. WesternGeco claimed it was entitled to lost profits after “it …

Denial of permanent injunction vacated because willingness to license does not necessarily mean no irreparable harm

This opinion was superseded.   Texas Advanced Optoelectronic v. Renesas was decided on May 1, 2018 on appeal from the Eastern District of Texas. Plaintiff Texas Advanced sued defendant Renesas for patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and tortious interference. Before trial, the district court granted Renesas’s summary judgment motion …

No declaratory jurisdiction where invalidity issue would not resolve the underlying contractual dispute

AbbVie v. MedImmune was decided on February 5, 2018 on appeal from the Eastern District of Virginia. A 1995 agreement between the parties licensed AbbVie to practice the ‘516 patent, among others. AbbVie did not practice the patent at the time. Under the agreement, AbbVie was to pay royalties on the sales …

Party waived alternative damages theory by pursuing an all-or-nothing damages approach

Promega v. Life Technologies was decided on November 13, 2017 on appeal from the Western District of Wisconsin, on remand from the Supreme Court. In the first instance at trial, the jury award plaintiff Promega $52 million in lost profit damages based on all of defendant Life Tech’s worldwide sales. The district court granted …

Declaratory action by U.S. manufacturer improper where notice letters targeted foreign distributors for infringing a foreign patent

Allied Mineral v. Osmi was decided on September 13, 2017 on appeal from the Southern District of Florida. In June 2015, Stellar sent notice letters to two Mexican companies, accusing them of infringing Stellar’s Mexican patent. The Mexican companies were distributors of Allied, an American company. Allied manufactures the products accused of infringement in …

Objective reasonableness isn’t dispositive in a willfulness inquiry, but is still relevant to enhancement

WesternGeco v. ION was decided on September 21, 2016 on appeal from the Southern District of Texas. The case was on remand from the Supreme Court in light of Halo v. Pulse. At the district court, the jury found infringement and no invalidity as to all asserted claims, and awarded Plaintiff-WesternGeco lost profits …