Assertion of Patent Claims After Unfavorable Claim Construction of Related Patents Warrants § 285 Attorney Fee Award

The court granted defendants' motion for attorney fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 following summary judgment of noninfringement because plaintiff should have known its claims were meritless. "The infringement claims against [defendants] depended on a claim construction that the court clearly rejected in prior litigation on closely related patents. . . . [Plaintiff] justifies the arguments it advanced here on the wording differences, asserting that the prior construction in [the earlier case] was not 'controlling.' The prior construction was not preclusive, but it certainly was clear. . . . [Plaintiff's] arguments for a different construction in the present cases were wholly unsubstantial and without merit. . . . It was merely a vehicle to relitigate prior, clearly rejected, positions."

TechRadium Inc v. FirstCall Network, Inc., 4-13-cv-02487 (TXSD February 27, 2015, Order) (Rosenthal, J.)