Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Plaintiff’s Counsel Sanctioned and Liable for $800,000 Fee Award Under 28 U.S.C. § 1927

Following summary judgment of inequitable conduct, the court sanctioned plaintiff's counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and found him jointly and severally liable for more than $800,000 in defendants' attorneys' fees. "It is now clear that the infringement claims that [counsel] prosecuted on Plaintiff’s behalf were baseless from the start, in that they were premised on alleged violations of rights in a patent that [counsel] had knowingly obtained through intentional inequitable conduct. [Counsel] knew that he had made material misstatements or omissions in procuring the patent before he ever filed the Complaint, and he therefore understood that the infringement claims had no proper foundation. . . . [Counsel] prosecuted this litigation very aggressively and ignored numerous opportunities to withdraw Plaintiff’s claims. . . . [Counsel's] conduct during this litigation was intended solely to maximize the commercial value of a patent that he himself had procured through knowing and deliberate inequitable conduct."

Worldwide Home Products, Inc. v. Time, Inc., et al, 1-11-cv-03633 (NYSD April 9, 2015, Order) (Swain, J.)


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