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Federal Circuit Lessens the Load for Patent Infringement Defendants
August 23, 2007 Full PDF
The Federal Circuit's August 20, 2007 unanimous en banc decision in In re Seagate Technology, LLC has raised the bar to prove willful patent infringement: the patent owner must now prove recklessness by the infringer. Significantly, a finding of willful infringement is a necessary condition for a award of enhanced damages. In addition, Seagate clarified that generally there is no waiver of attorney-client privilege and work-product immunity for trial counsel in cases involving one of the most common defenses to willful patent infringement, the advice of counsel defense.