Intellectual Property Law

Judge Farnan Denies Motion for Attorneys' Fees

By Karen E. Keller, Andrew A. Lundgren et al.

In a somewhat unusual procedural posture, Defendants moved the district court for attorneys' fees following a stipulated judgment of non-infringement after Judge Farnan issued his Markman Order construing the terms in favor of defendants. Prism Technologies LLC v. Verisign, Inc., C.A. No. 05-214-JJF, Memorandum Opinion (D. Del. Sept. 30, 2008). After the Federal Circuit affirmed Judge Farnan's Markman Order, defendants moved pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 285 to declare this matter an exceptional case and award defendants their attorneys' fees. Though admitting that the plaintiff could have done a "more thorough" pre-suit investigation, the Court found that the claim chart and analysis done by the plaintiff was "adequate to support its claims." Id. at 6. Judge Farnan also found that the plaintiffs' reasonablenes in continuing to pursue the litigation was supported by its conudct, particularly its withdrawal of the infringement claims once it knew it could not support its claims under the Court's claim construction. Id. at 8. The Court therefore, found that defendants did not establish that this was an exceptional case.

Prism Technologies LLC v. Verisign, Inc., C.A. No. 05-214-JJF, Memorandum Opinion (D. Del. Sept. 30, 2008).

Full post as published by Delaware IP Law Blog on October 03, 2008 (boomark / email).