Friday, March 14, 2014

Attorneys’ Fees Denied in Exceptional Case For Failure to Distinguish Between Declaratory Judgment Fees and Counterclaim Fees

The court denied plaintiff's motion for attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 following a joint motion for dismissal. Although the court found the case to be exceptional, plaintiff did not submit adequate and timely evidence of fees related to defendant's counterclaims. "[Plaintiff] has not met its burden of substantiating the hours worked here. The materials [plaintiff] submitted in justification for attorney fees appear to include all work done by counsel after [defendant] submitted its counterclaims. The materials fail to distinguish between the hours incurred for work done on the counterclaims and hours incurred as a result of [plaintiff's] noninfringement or invalidity claims under its Complaint for Declaratory Judgment. . . . As such, an award of attorney fees in this case would require speculation. . . . The Court declines to invite untimely record keeping submissions or belated explanations for [plaintiff's] failure to fulfill its current burden."

Mauna Kea Technologies v. Anticancer, Inc., 3-11-cv-01407 (CASD March 12, 2014, Order) (Bencivengo, J.)

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