Summary Judgment of No Willful Infringement Vacated in Light of Halo

The court granted plaintiff's motion to vacate the MDL judge's summary judgment order of no willful infringement following the Supreme Court's recent decision in Halo Elecs., Inc. v. Pulse Elecs., Inc., No. 14-1513 (U.S. June 13, 2016). "The [MDL judge's] order relied exclusively on [In re Seagate Tech., LLC, 497 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007)] in granting summary judgment of no willful infringement. Specifically, in granting summary judgment, the MDL judge found 'Plaintiff cannot satisfy its burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that Defendants’ actions were objectively reckless.' The Supreme Court expressly rejected this legal standard in Halo. . . . As such, prospectively applying the [MDL judge's] order would not be consistent with the current state of the law on enhanced damages. . . . In addition, the question of subjective willfulness under the current state of the law is typically a determination reserved for the jury. . . . Here, the pre-trial record reveals factual disputes such that the question of subjective willfulness must be decided by the jury."

TransData, Inc. v. Centerpoint Energy Houston Electric LLC et al, 6-10-cv-00557 (TXED June 29, 2016, Order) (Love, M.J.)