Novo Industries, L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp.

239 F. Supp. 2d 1282, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25851, 2002 WL 31911026
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedDecember 23, 2002
Docket99-6465-CIV-HUCK, 99-6465-CIV-GARBER
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 239 F. Supp. 2d 1282 (Novo Industries, L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Novo Industries, L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp., 239 F. Supp. 2d 1282, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25851, 2002 WL 31911026 (S.D. Fla. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW/NEW TRIAL, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ENHANCED DAMAGES AND ATTORNEY’S FEES, PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ENTRY OF JUDGMENT

HUCK, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the Defendant Micro Molds Corporation’s (“Micro Molds”) Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law/New Trial [DE #210], Plaintiff Novo Industries, L.P.’s (“Novo”) Motion for Enhanced Damages and Attorney’s Fees [DE # 186], Novo’s Motion for Permanent Injunction [DE # 190], and Novo’s Motion to Re-Open Case to Enter Judgment [DE # 197]. The Court has carefully considered the above enumerated motions, the parties’ respective legal mem-oranda and oral argument with respect to the motions, together with the pertinent portions of the record.

The above enumerated post-trial motions were filed after a jury trial on Novo’s patent infringement claim against Mirco Molds. On November 1, 2001, after a four-day trial, the jury, by its verdict, found that Micro Molds had literally infringed Novo’s United States Patent No. *1284 5,056,578 (“the ’578 patent”), that Micro Molds had not proved any of its defenses, and awarded Novo $649,000.00 as its lost profits. The jury also found that Micro Molds was guilty of willful infringement.

On November 8, 2001, Novo filed its motion for entry of judgment, enhanced damages based on the jury’s finding of willful infringement and for attorney’s fees pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285 and for permanent injunction. On December 27, 2001, before the Court could rule on Novo’s motions, Micro Molds filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Micro Molds’ petition resulted in a stay of these proceedings. On February 26, 2002, the bankruptcy court entered an Agreed Order Granting Novo’s Motion for Relief From Stay. That order lifted the stay so that this Court could proceed with post-trial motions. Thereafter, on May 22, 2002, Micro Molds filed its Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law/New Trial.

A. Micro Molds’ Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law/New Trial

In its Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, Micro Molds contends, among other things, that the jury’s verdict should be set aside and judgment entered in favor of Micro Molds because of the Court’s erroneous Markman claims construction 1 and because there was insufficient evidence for the jury to reasonably find that Novo’s ’578 patent was valid or that it was infringed upon by Micro Molds. These infringement liability issues, after being briefed by the parties, were extensively argued at a hearing held on July 11, 2002. At the conclusion of that hearing, the Court, in rejecting Micro Molds’ contentions with respect to the infringement liability issue, announced in open court its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Court reaffirms, adopts and incorporates those findings and conclusions in this order as if they were fully set forth herein. Accordingly, Micro Mold’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law/New Trial [DE # 210] will be DENIED.

B. Measure of Damages

At the July 11, 2002 hearing, Micro Molds also argued that the Court must vacate the jury’s lost profits award because there was insufficient, competent evidence to sustain it. Micro Molds challenged the lost profit award on the basis that Novo failed to meet its evidentiary burden for lost profits. In particular, Micro Molds contends that Novo failed to satisfy the “but for” requirement for recovery of lost profits in patent infringement cases. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court allowed the parties to submit additional briefing on the damages issues. After the parties completed this additional briefing, the Court heard additional oral argument on September 20, 2002. Having considered all of the parties’ additional legal memoranda and legal argument, the Court agrees that the jury’s lost profits award must be vacated because Novo failed to satisfy its burden of presenting sufficient competent evidence for the jury to find that “but for” Micro Molds’ infringement of Novo’s ’578 patent, Novo suffered reasonably ascertainable lost profits.

1. Lost Profits

The parties generally agree on the law applicable to damages in a patent case. The object in patent cases, as with most other commercial cases, is to place the injured party in the same, or as near as may be, situation as it would have been in had the infringement not occurred. See Fromson v. Western Litho Plate & Supply *1285 Co., 853 F.2d 1568, 1574 (Fed.Cir.1988). Recovery of lost profits is one of the methods to accomplish this objective. In order to recover damages in the form of lost profits, the patent owner must establish in the evidence a causal relation between the infringement and its lost profits. See BIC Leisure Prod., Inc. v. Windsurfing Int'l, Inc., 1 F.3d 1214, 1218 (Fed.Cir.1993). Stated another way, the patent owner must prove that “but for” the defendant’s infringement, the patent owner would have made the sales which the defendant made. See Electro Scientific Indus., Inc. v. Gen. Scanning, Inc., 247 F.3d 1341, 1353 (Fed.Cir.2001). However, courts recognize that the quantifying of damages, i.e., lost profits in a patent case, is not an exact science and that it is often possible only to establish the “best approximate amount to which the patent owner is entitled” based on “reasonable probability.” King Instrument Corp. v. Otari Corp., 767 F.2d 853, 863 (Fed.Cir.1985).

In recognition of the difficulty in proving lost profits in patent cases, federal courts have formulated and apply a four-factor test first articulated in Panduit Corp. v. Stahlin Bros. Fibre Works, Inc., 575 F.2d 1152, 1156 (6th Cir.1978) (“the Panduit test”). The Panduit test has become the prevalent, though not exclusive, standard for determining lost profits in patent cases. Cent. Soya Co., Inc. v. George A. Hormel & Co., 723 F.2d 1573, 1578-79 (Fed.Cir.1983); BIC, 1 F.3d at 1218. The Panduit test is one by which Novo sought to prove, and now seeks to sustain, its lost profit damages.

In order to provide lost profits under the Panduit test, Novo must prove, with reasonable probability, (1) a demand for the patented product during the period in question; (2) an absence of acceptable non-infringing substitutes; (3) its own manufacturing and marketing capacity to meet or exploit that demand; and (4) a detailed computation of the amount of the profit it would have made. Panduit, 575 F.2d at 1155.

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239 F. Supp. 2d 1282, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25851, 2002 WL 31911026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/novo-industries-lp-v-micro-molds-corp-flsd-2002.