Failure to Produce Apportioned Sales Data Precludes Evidence That Patented Feature Did Not Enhance Profitability of Accused Products

The court granted plaintiff's motion in limine to preclude defendant from introducing evidence that the use of the patented invention in the accused products did not enhance the products' profitability because defendant failed to produce sufficient data in court-ordered discovery. "[Plaintiff] seeks a reasonable royalty for [defendant's] violation of [plaintiff's collagen] patent rights through the sale of the Accused Products. Data concerning both entire market value and apportioned value are relevant to the analysis, depending on which measure [plaintiff] uses for its royalty calculation. [Plaintiff] sought documents concerning the volume of sales of the Accused Products, gross sales receipts, and accounting standards used by [defendant]. . . . [Defendant] was ordered to produce records concerning not simply records of collagen sales, but records for sales of products which were collagen blends, or finished products. . . . While [defendant] produced substantial financial documentation, it is aggregated data, and does not provide apportioned data sufficient to allow [plaintiff] to construct a royalty claim on that basis. The Court therefore precludes [defendant] from introducing such documents at trial."

Biocell Technology LLC v. Arthro-7 Inc., et al, 8-12-cv-00516 (CACD August 4, 2014, Order) (Selna, J.)