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SCOTUS tells the Federal Circuit to back off of patent damages rules. Under the Patent Act, a court may increase the damages up to three times of a judgment. Last year, in two decisions, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals imposed strict limits on the plaintiffs’ ability to get enhanced damages. The Federal Circuit required a plaintiff to show two things: (1) that there was a high likelihood that the infringer’s actions constituted infringement; (2) that the infringer knew the risk. Under this standard, any defense by an accused infringer that was not frivolous would get them off the hook. SCOTUS reversed the Federal Circuit recognizing that the Patent Act left enhanced damages to the discretion of the trial court. SCOTUS acknowledged that Federal Circuit’s test was trying to keep enhanced damages for egregious cases only. But the test was too rigid. Justice Roberts wrote: “[The] threshold requirement excludes from discretionary punishment many of the most culpable offenders, such as the “wanton and malicious pirate” who intentionally infringes another's patent—with no doubts about its validity or any notion of a defense—for no purpose other than to steal the patentee's business.” The two cases will go back to the trial courts to determine the availability of enhanced damages using a less rigid and more neutral test.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS. This decision demonstrates a tension between a trial court and an appellate court. The trial court hears the evidence and decides the facts while applying the laws. The appellate court is supposed to determine whether the court below decided the facts according to the law. In these cases, SCOTUS decided that the appellate court had overreached and encroached on something that should be left to the trial court. The Patent Act recognizes that in certain egregious situations, the willful infringer should pay not only actual damages but enhanced damages to punish the infringer and further compensate the plaintiff. The Federal Circuit’s rigid test wasn’t warranted by the Patent Act and interfered with the trial court’s ability to award enhanced damages.