Case Deemed Exceptional for Fee Award and Expert Fees/Costs Were Within Inherent Sanctioning Power of District Court.
In MarcTec LLC v. Johnson & Johnson and Cordis Corp., Case No. 2010-1285 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 3, 2012), the Federal Circuit affirmed a Sourthern District of Illinois district judge’s rulings by which a $3,873,865.01 attorney’s fees award and a $809,788.02 expert fees/costs award to the defense were fashioned. The appeals court found that the case was indeed “exceptional” so as to trigger the patent fee-shifting statute (35 U.S.C. § 285) and that the expert fees/costs award was justified under the district judge’s inherent sanctioning power.
We thank both NALFA’s fee blog and the Patently-O blog, in their January 4, 2012 post, for alerting to this decision. A copy of the Federal Circuit’s slip opinion can be accessed on the Patently-O blog’s post.