Nearly six years ago, the Supreme Court in Octane Fitness v. ICON Health & Fitness promulgated a “totality of the circumstances test” for awarding reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in exceptional cases under 35...more
On April 25, 2019, in Int’l Designs Corp., LLC, et. al. v. Hair Art Int’l, Inc., Judge George H. Wu in the Central District of California denied Hair Art’s motion for attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285. Judge Wu concluded...more
5/9/2019
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Claim Construction ,
Exceptional Case ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Section 285 ,
Summary Judgment ,
Totality of Circumstances Test
A recent opinion from the District of New Jersey is a cautionary tale for patent practitioners regarding conduct during patent prosecution that can be framed as bad faith. This can become an expensive misstep during...more
6/6/2018
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Bad Faith ,
Exceptional Case ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Section 285 ,
USPTO
In Drop Stop LLC v. Jian Qing Zhu et al, 2-16-cv-07916 (CACD January 22, 2018), the Central District of California granted Plaintiff’s motion to award attorney fees due to Defendants’ exceptional litigation tactics under 35...more
After an eight-year battle through the Federal Courts, the fight over attorneys’ fees in Octane Fitness v. ICON Health & Fitness has likely reached its end with the Federal Circuit upholding the hotly disputed $1.6 million...more
9/19/2017
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Determination on Remand ,
Exceptional Case ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Reaffirmation ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Totality of Circumstances Test
A flurry of activity from various courts this past week on “exceptional cases” under Section 285 of the Patent Act provided notable guidance for practitioners and patent owners, with a particular emphasis on the motivation...more
6/14/2017
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Exceptional Case ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Section 285 ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Willful Infringement
On January 22, 2016, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in Lumen View Technology LLC v. FindTheBest.com (Dkt. No. 15-1275), in which it vacated and remanded the lower court’s award of enhanced attorney fees under 35...more