• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

McCarter & English Logo

  • People
  • Services
  • Insights
  • Our Firm
    • Leadership Team
    • Social Justice
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Pro Bono
    • Client Service Values
    • Alumni
  • Join Us
    • Lawyers
    • Summer Associates
    • Patent Professionals
    • Professional Staff
    • Job Openings
  • Locations
    • Boston
    • Philadelphia
    • East Brunswick
    • Indianapolis
    • Stamford
    • Hartford
    • Trenton
    • Miami
    • Washington, DC
    • New York
    • Wilmington
    • Newark
  • Share

Share

Browse Alphabetically:

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • Q
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • X
  • Y
  • Z
  • All
Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Litigation
Blockchain, Smart Contracts & Digital Currencies
Business Litigation
Cannabis
Coronavirus Resource Center
Corporate
Crisis Management
Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Delaware Corporate, LLC & Partnership Law
Design, Fashion & Luxury
E-Discovery & Records Management
Energy & Utilities
Environment & Energy
Financial Institutions
Food & Beverage
Government Affairs
Government Contracts & Global Trade
Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
Healthcare
Hospitality
Immigration
Impact Investing
Insurance Recovery, Litigation & Counseling
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Life Sciences
Manufacturing
Products Liability, Mass Torts & Consumer Class Actions
Public Finance
Real Estate
Renewable Energy
Sports & Entertainment
Tax & Employee Benefits
Technology Transactions
Transportation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management
Trusts, Estates & Private Clients
Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies
  • Broadcasts
  • Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • View All Insights
Search By:
Insights News Headline Stack
Main image for Justices’ Enhanced Damages Ruling Gives Patents More Teeth
News|Quote

Justices’ Enhanced Damages Ruling Gives Patents More Teeth

Law360

6.13.2016

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday casting aside a strict test for securing enhanced damages in patent cases clears the way for patentees to recover big damages more frequently and exert greater leverage over accused infringers in settlement talks, attorneys say.

“The decisions over the last few years appeared to have cut back on patent rights in some respects,” said Erik Paul Belt of McCarter & English LLP. “This a case that I think is very pro-patent and gives patent owners more tools with which to enforce patents and make sure companies that are competitors are not pirating their technology.”

In a 2007 decision known as Seagate, the Federal Circuit had ruled that enhanced damages could be awarded only when a court found infringement to be willful, and set a two-part test that patent owners must meet to prove that. They needed to show first there was a high likelihood that the infringer’s actions constituted infringement, then that the infringer knew of that risk.

By relaxing the rigid Seagate test and making sizable damages awards a more realistic possibility, the Supreme Court’s decision could have a deterrent effect on patent infringement, since the risk of triple damages could make companies think twice before infringing, according to Belt.

Companies that may have previously infringed a patent thinking there was less of a risk might now instead decide to create something new and get their own patent, and “that’s a very good thing for the country,” Belt said.

“If a goal of the patent system is to reduce litigation, one way to do it is to make patent rights stronger so would-be infringers are more careful in the future,” he said.

sidebar

pdfemail

Related People

Media item: Erik Paul Belt
Erik Paul Belt

Partner

Related Services

Intellectual Property
Patents
Subscribe to our Insights
McCarter & English, LLP
Copyright © 2023 McCarter & English, LLP. All Rights Reserved.
  • Login
  • Attorney Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Awards Methodology
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Sitemap

The McCarter & English, LLP website is for informational purposes only. We do not provide legal advice on this website. We can provide legal advice only to our clients in specific inquiries that they address to us. If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact us, but do not send any information about your specific legal question. We cannot serve as your lawyers until we establish an attorney-client relationship, which can occur only after we follow procedures within our firm and after we agree to the terms of the representation.

Accept Cancel