August Technology Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd.

542 F. App'x 985
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedNovember 18, 2013
Docket19-1922
StatusUnpublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 542 F. App'x 985 (August Technology Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
August Technology Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., 542 F. App'x 985 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

Opinion

O’MALLEY, Circuit Judge.

August Technology Corporation and Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (collectively, “August Tech”) filed suit against Camtek, Ltd. (“Camtek”) in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleging that Camtek infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,826,298 (“the '298 patent”). August Tech is the assignee of the '298 patent, which is directed to an automated semiconductor wafer inspection system. Camtek counterclaimed for declaratory judgment of noninfringement and invalidity.

A jury found that Camtek’s Falcon device literally infringed the asserted claims of the '298 patent. The district court entered judgment and a permanent injunction preventing Camtek from selling the Falcon machines in the United States. Camtek appealed the district court’s final judgment to this court. On appeal, we vacated the judgment of infringement and the permanent injunction, and remanded for further proceedings. August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., 655 F.3d 1278, 1282-86 (Fed.Cir.2011) (“Onginal Appeal ”).

After the jury’s verdict, but before the injunction was in place, Camtek sold an infringing Falcon machine. August Tech moved for enhanced damages on grounds that Camtek’s post-verdict infringement was willful. Although the district court found willfulness, it denied August Tech’s request for enhanced damages. Order, August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396 (D.Minn. Aug. 11, 2011), ECF No. 732.

While the original appeal was pending, Camtek entered into negotiations that led to two additional sales of Falcon machines. The district court held Camtek in contempt for violating the injunction and ordered it to pay double damages as a sanction. August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40771, at *8 (D.Minn. Mar. 26, 2012). Camtek subsequently filed a Rule 60 motion seeking relief from the contempt order and sanctions award, and a separate motion pursuant to Rules 59 and 60 seeking relief from the court’s willful infringement finding. In deciding those motions, the district court reiterated that Camtek was in contempt, but granted the Rule *987 60(b) motion in part, reducing the sanctions awarded. August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116040 (D.Minn. Aug. 17, 2012). The court also denied Camtek’s motions requesting that it vacate the post-verdict willful infringement finding.

Camtek appeals from the district court’s judgment: (1) granting-in-part and denying-in-part Camtek’s Rule 60 motion for relief from the contempt order and sanctions award; and (2) denying Camtek’s Rule 59 and 60 motion for relief from the order finding willfulness. See Judgment in a Civil Case, August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396 (D.Minn. Aug. 30, 2012), ECF No. 914. It also appeals from the underlying opinions and orders giving rise to that judgment. Because we find that the district court’s contempt order and its willfulness finding are not final appealable orders, this court lacks jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss Camtek’s appeal pending final resolution of all claims in this case.

I. Background

On March 5, 2009, after a three week trial, a jury found that Camtek’s accused Falcon wafer inspection machines infringed the '298 patent but that the infringement was not willful. The jury awarded $6,782,490 in lost profit damages. A few days later, Camtek notified its sales force of what it characterized as a “preliminary verdict,” urging them to “emphasize [to customers] that this process is not over and no judgment has been made.” August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154357, at *2 (D.Minn. Aug. 11, 2011) (“R & R Finding Contempt ”). Camtek also issued a press release stating that there was no infringement and that the - “unjust verdict” would be vacated or reversed. Id. at *3.

Roughly five weeks after the jury verdict, Camtek offered to sell, and eventually sold, a Falcon machine to a California customer: Infinera. August Tech sought to have damages on the Infinera sale enhanced, arguing that Camtek’s post-verdict infringement was willful. Internal communications revealed that Camtek sold the machine to Infinera at a “rock bottom price” in an effort to “hurt” August Tech. Order, August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396 (D.Minn. Aug. 11, 2011), ECF No. 732 at 2.

On August 28, 2009, the district court entered judgment and issued a permanent injunction that prevented Camtek from “communicating with third parties (in person, via phone, via email, or by any other means) located in the United States for the purposes of offering to sell Falcon machines or machines that are colorable imitations thereof, notwithstanding where the third party intends to use the machines.” Order on Final Judgment and Injunctive Relief, August Tech. Corp. v. Camtek, Ltd., No. 05-cv-1396 (D.Minn. Aug. 28, 2009), ECF No. 547 at 8.

The parties filed another round of post-trial motions, most of which were ultimately denied. Meanwhile, Camtek continued to communicate with customers in the United States about selling its Falcon machines overseas. Those communications lead to two post-injunction Falcon sales— one for use in China and the other for use in Malaysia. While the negotiations were ongoing, Camtek filed a Rule 60 motion asking the district court to clarify and revise the injunction to delete phrase “notwithstanding where the third party intends to use the machines” so that it could communicate with customers in the, United States who intended to use the machines overseas. R & R Finding Contempt, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154357, at *5. The district court denied Camtek’s motion to mod *988 ify the injunction, and Camtek appealed the district court’s final judgment to this court on August 10, 2010.

On March 9, 2011, while the Original Appeal was pending, August Tech filed two motions with the district court: (1) a motion for enhanced damages stemming from Camtek’s post-verdict Falcon sale to Infinera; and (2) a motion to hold Camtek in contempt for violating the terms of the injunction. Both motions were referred to the magistrate judge for preparation of a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”).

On August 11, 2011, the magistrate judge issued an R & R finding that Cam-tek was in contempt. The court found it undisputed that, in 2009, Camtek “communicated with Morgan and Cree representatives in the United States and offered to sell Falcon machines for delivery overseas” in violation of the injunction. R & R Finding Contempt, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154357, at *10-11. Consistent with the jury’s verdict and the court’s prior damages determination, the magistrate judge recommended that Camtek be ordered to pay August Tech double damages in the amount of $1,291,892 as a sanction for contempt.

With respect to August Tech’s motion for enhanced damages, the magistrate judge issued a separate order finding that August Tech “proved by clear and convincing evidence that the Infinera sale was willful infringement.” Order,

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