Monday, November 2, 2009

Case Not Exceptional In Light of Prevailing Defendant's $1.9 Million Post-Markman Attorneys' Fees

Following a grant of summary judgment of noninfringement, the court denied defendant's motion for attorneys' fees incurred after the court's claim construction ruling and rejected defendant's arguments that discovery disputes and plaintiff's failure to dismiss following claim construction made the case exceptional. "Annoying as the discovery disputes were, they are not so unusual as to make this an exceptional case. The term 'exceptional' means just that. . . . Moreover, it is suspect that this case was so obviously baseless after the court’s claim construction ruling when one considers the $1.9 million defendant spent in fees and costs after the ruling. It is puzzling how this case could have required such expenses if it was so clear that a simple motion for summary judgment based only on the two relevant constructions would have brought the case to the end."

WNS Holdings, LLC et al v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 3-08-cv-00275
(WIWD October 29, 2009, Order) (Crabb, J.)

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