BIC Leisure Products, Inc. v. Windsurfing International, Inc.

850 F. Supp. 224, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6310, 1994 WL 109760
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 13, 1994
Docket83 Civ. 3774(MEL)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 850 F. Supp. 224 (BIC Leisure Products, Inc. v. Windsurfing International, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BIC Leisure Products, Inc. v. Windsurfing International, Inc., 850 F. Supp. 224, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6310, 1994 WL 109760 (S.D.N.Y. 1994).

Opinion

LASKER, District Judge.

BIC Leisure Products, Inc. (“BIC Leisure”) moves for entry of final judgment in accordance with the decision of the Federal Circuit on the question of damages in this patent infringement case, BIC Leisure Prods, v. Windsurfing Intern., 1 F.3d 1214 (Fed.Cir.1993), which modified the earlier award of this court, BIC Leisure Prods, v. Windsurfing Intern., 761 F.Supp. 1032, modified, 774 F.Supp. 832 (S.D.N.Y.1991).

The parties dispute how the damage award-to Windsurfing International, Inc. (“Windsurfing”) is to be recalculated in light of the Federal Circuit’s opinion; what costs, if any, BIC Leisure is entitled to as a result of an earlier offer which it made to settle the case under Rule 68; and what costs, if any, Windsurfing is entitled to as the prevailing party in this action.

I.

The award of damages for patent infringement is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 284 which provides:

Upon finding for the claimant the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court.

There are two methods by which damages may be calculated under the statute:

If the record permits the determination of actual damages, namely, the profits the patentee lost from the infringement, that determination accurately measures the patentee’s loss. If actual damages cannot be ascertained, then a reasonable royalty must be determined. The reasonable royalty may be based upon an established royalty, if there is one, or if not upon a hypothetical royalty resulting from arm’s length negotiations between a willing licensor and a willing licensee.

Hanson v. Alpine Valley Ski Area, 718 F.2d 1075, 1078 (Fed.Cir.1983).

A bench trial was held to establish Windsurfing’s actual damages from the infringement. On the basis of the evidence adduced at trial, this court concluded that Windsurfing had established actual damages and, after modification, awarded Windsurfing $1,039,099 in “lost profits” and $516,065 in “lost royalties.” The “lost profits” award compensated Windsurfing for the money it would have made from its own manufacture and sale of boards but for BIC Leisure’s infringement, that is, if BIC Leisure had not been in the market. The “lost royalties” award compensated Windsurfing for the royalties it would have collected from the sales which its licensees would have made had BIC Leisure not been in the market. These awards were based on the finding that, if BIC Leisure had not been in the market, Windsurfing and its licensees would have divided BIC Leisure’s sales among them in accordance with their market shares.

On appeal, the Federal Circuit rejected the award of “lost profits” because it found that:

*226 Assuming BIC [Leisure] had not been in the market, Windsurfing did not show that BIC [LeisureJ’s customers would have purchased sailboards from Windsurfing and other manufacturers in proportion to their market shares.

BIC Leisure Prods, v. Windsurfing Intern., 1 F.3d at 1216. The Federal Circuit concluded that:

The record shows rather that the vast majority of BIC [LeisureJ’s customers would have purchased boards from O’Brien and HiFLy [two Windsurfing licensees who sold sailboards resembling BIC Leisure’s in the same distribution channels whose prices were closer to BIC Leisure’s than were Windsurfing’s] if BIC [Leisure]^ boards had not been available.

Id. at 1218.

i. Lost Royalties

BIC Leisure argues that, since the Federal Circuit rejected this court’s finding that Windsurfing and its licensees would have divided BIC Leisure’s sales among them in accordance with their market shares (and that finding was the basis for both the award of lost profits and of lost royalties), it also implicitly reversed the award of lost royalties.

While the argument has semantic appeal, it ignores the remand instructions of the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit reversed the award of lost profits, but specifically affirmed the lost royalties award. The decision states that:

With regard to royalties, Windsurfing is entitled to receive lost royalties (on amounts Windsurfing’s licensees would have paid “but for” the infringement)____ BIC challenges the methodology of the district court in calculating the lost royalties per board, but this court concludes that the chosen methodology was within the court’s discretion. On remand the trial court may award damages based upon the lost royalties per board calculation.

BIC Leisure Prods, v. Windsurfing Intern., 1 F.3d at 1219-20. Accordingly, the award to Windsurfing of $516,065 in lost royalties stands. However, that is not the end of the damages calculation.

ii. Reasonable Royalties

The Federal Circuit’s decision states that:

Windsurfing is entitled to receive lost royalties (on amounts Windsurfing’s licensees would have paid “but for” the infringement) and reasonable royalties (on amounts of any other BIC use, if any, of the patented invention).

BIC Leisure Prods, v. Windsurfing Intern., 1 F.3d at 1219 (emphasis added). We construe this instruction to mean that Windsurfing is entitled to an award of reasonable royalties for those infringing sailboards sold by BIC Leisure which are not reflected in the award of lost royalties. That is, since only a certain percentage of BIC Leisure’s infringing sales would have been picked up by Windsurfing’s licensees if BIC Leisure had not been in the market (and only that percentage of the infringing sales' is reflected in the lost royalties award), Windsurfing is entitled to a reasonable royalties award to account for the remaining infringing sailboard sales.

An award of reasonable royalties “may be based upon an established royalty, if there is one, or if not upon a hypothetical royalty resulting from arm’s length negotiations between a willing licensor and a willing licensee.” Hanson v. Alpine Valley Ski Area, 718 F.2d at 1078. A hypothetical royalty award is based on “a willing-buyer/willing-seller concept, in which a suppositious meeting between the patent owner and the prospective [user] of the infringing [method] is held to negotiate a license agreement.” Id. at 1079 (quoting Tektronix v. United States, 552 F.2d 343, 349, 213 Ct.Cl. 257 (1977)) (alterations in original).

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850 F. Supp. 224, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6310, 1994 WL 109760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bic-leisure-products-inc-v-windsurfing-international-inc-nysd-1994.