Copying, False Statements, and Multiple Years of Infringement Warrant Award of Enhanced Damages

The court granted plaintiff's motion for enhanced damages because defendant's copying, lack of a good faith belief in its defenses, litigation conduct, duration of misconduct, motivation for harm weighed in favor of a 1.5 time enhancement of the jury verdict. "It appears from the record that [defendant] examined [plaintiff's] patent and step and tried to design something as close as possible. . . . The Court agrees that [defendant] willfully infringed. . . . [T]he false statement in the original Answer was wrongful behavior because it concerned a key fact: whether [defendant] knew about the patent while designing its step. . . . The fact that counsel remedied [defendant's] bad behavior does not alter the reality that false statements in the Answer are not proper litigation behavior. . . . Wherever courts should draw the line on duration, a party with multiple years of expanded use of an infringing product undoubtedly crosses the line on acceptable duration of infringement."

Cobalt Boats, LLC v. Sea Ray Boats, Inc. et al, 2-15-cv-00021 (VAED October 31, 2017, Order) (Morgan, SJ)