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- Title
CASTING ASPERSIONS IN PATENT TRIALS.
- Authors
Brean, Daniel Harris; Clark, Bryan P.
- Abstract
Bad actors in patent litigation can face serious consequences. Infringers who are found to infringe "willfully" may be subject to treble damages. Patentees who assert weak claims in bad faith can be ordered to pay the defendant's attorneys' fees. These remedies are of such importance to the patent system today that the Supreme Court reinvigorated both respective doctrines in back-to-back landmark decisions in 2014 (Octane Fitness) and 2016 (Halo Electronics). Those decisions have helped district courts more effectively punish and deter misconduct. But the Supreme Court neglected to address a critical part of these remedies--whether and to what extent they should be tried to a jury. Under current law, willfulness can be tried to a jury but bad-faith enforcement cannot. This means that plaintiffs alone can legitimately cast aspersions at defendants that profoundly color the case and the jury's views of it.
- Subjects
UNITED States; PATENT suits; PATENT law; OCTANE Fitness LLC; HALO Electronics Inc.; ACTIONS &; defenses (Law)
- Publication
University of Pittsburgh Law Review, 2017, Vol 79, Issue 2, p145
- ISSN
0041-9915
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5195/lawreview.2017.548