Polara Engineering, Inc. v. Campbell Co.

237 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2017 WL 754609, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27304
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedFebruary 27, 2017
DocketCase No. SA CV 13-00007-DFM
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 237 F. Supp. 3d 956 (Polara Engineering, Inc. v. Campbell Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Polara Engineering, Inc. v. Campbell Co., 237 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2017 WL 754609, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27304 (S.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER RE: POSTTRIAL MOTIONS

DOUGLAS F. McCORMICK, United States Magistrate Judge

This matter is before the Court on the parties’ posttrial motions. Defendant Campbell Company (“Campbell”) moves for judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff Polara Engineering, Inc." (“Polara") moves for > a permanent injunction, a judgment of willfulness and an award of • treble damages, a finding of exceptional circumstances and a corresponding award of attorney’s fees, and an award of supplemental damages, prejudgment interest, and postjudgment interest.

I.

BACKGROUND

Polara filed this patent-infringement suit against Campbell on January 2, 2013. Dkt. 1. Polara, a manufacturer of accessible pedestrian signal systems and pedestrian push buttons, alleged that Campbell was infringing on Polara’s United States Patent No. 7, 145,476. (the “’476 Patent”). Id. at 2. The ’476 Patent, issued in December 2006, was for a “2-wire push button station control system for a traffic light controlled intersection.” Id at 3. Polara alleged that Campbell, a manufacturer of traffic-industry products, had developed an “Advisor Advanced Accessible Pedestrian Station,” or “AAPS,” that infringed the ’476 Patent. Id.

Polara moved for summary judgment of infringement of Claims 1 through 4 of the ’476 Patent. Dkt. 87. Claim 1 recites:

A control system by which vibro-tactile messages are provided to alert pedestrians when to cross a traffic light con[965]*965trolled intersection, said control system comprising: ,
at least one push button station located at the traffic light controlled intersection to be crossed by pedestrians, said push button station including a push button head that is depressed by the pedestrians and message generating means adapted to cause said push button head to vibrate to provide a tactile indication to a visually impaired pedestrian when to cross the intersection; and
a control unit that is responsive to the depression of the push button head of said push button station to transmit to the push button station both power and digital data signals over a single pair of wires by which to power and control the operation of said message generating.means.

Tr. Exh. 9 at 11.1 Claim 2 reeites the control system described -in Claim 1 and further provides that “at least one push button station also includes a microcon-troller to receive the power and digital data signals from said control unit, said microcontroller providing output signals to control the operation of said message generating means.” Id. Claim 3, in turn, is dependent on Claim 2, and further requires that “said message generating means of said at least one push button station includes a vibration driver connected to said microcontroller to cause said push button head to vibrate and thereby provide said tactile indication to the visually impaired pedestrian that it is safe to'cross the intersection.” Id. Claim 4 recites the control system described in Claim 2, “wherein said message generating means of said at least one push button station includes a sound chip in which prerecorded messages are stored and from which an audible indication is provided to the visually impaired pedestrian whether”: -it >is safe to cross -the intersection. Id.

The judge originally' assigned to this case—United States District Judge Cor-mac J. Carney—found that Campbell’s AAPS infringed Claims 1 through 4 of the ’476 Patent, and that Polara was thus entitled to partial summary judgment on the issue of infringement as to those claims. Dkt. 155. With trial remaining on damages, Polara’s - willfulness claim, and Campbell’s invalidity and unenforceability defenses, .the parties consented to this Court’s jurisdiction. Dkt. 383; see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).

A jury trial-began on June 21, 2016. See Dkt. 413. After seven days of jury selection, testimony, and argument, the jury returned a special verdict on June 30, 2016. See Dkt. 440. The jury found that Campbell had not shown that Claims 1 through 4' -of the ’476 Patent were invalid. Id. at 2-3; The jury also found that Polara had not proved that it was entitled to lost profits, but it awarded damages of $412,926 based on a 15 percent royalty rate and total.sales of $2,752,842. Id. at 4. The jury found that Campbell had willfully infringed the ’476 Patent. Id. Finally, the jury made an advisory finding that Polara had not engaged . in inequitable conduct before the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) that rendered the ’476 Patent unenforceable. Id. at 5.

These motions followed-.

II.

DISCUSSION

A. Campbell’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Campbell moves for judgment as a matter of law, arguing that: (1) the ’476 Patent [966]*966is invalid because it was in public use for more than one year before a patent application was filed; (2) Claims 1 through 4 were obvious in light of the prior art; (3) the ’476 Patent is invalid because it was described in publications more than one year before Polara filed the patent application; and (4) Campbell did not act willfully in infringing the ’476 Patent. Dkt. 450 at 1-56, 66-82.

1. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50 permits a court to grant judgment as a matter of law “when the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion and the conclusion is contrary to that reached by the jury.” Ostad v. Or. Health Scis. Univ., 327 F.3d 876, 881 (9th Cir. 2003). If substantial evidence supports the jury’s verdict, the court should deny a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Wallace v. City of San Diego, 479 F.3d 616, 624 (9th Cir. 2007) (as amended); Callicrate v. Wadsworth Mfg., Inc., 427 F.3d 1361, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2005). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion even if it is possible to draw two inconsistent conclusions from the evidence.” Maynard v. City of San Jose, 37 F.3d 1396, 1404 (9th Cir. 1994) (as amended). A court “must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party ... and draw all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor.” E.E.O.C. v. Go Daddy Software, Inc., 581 F.3d 951, 961 (9th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted, alteration in original). Neither a “mere scintilla” of evidence nor pure speculation is sufficient to sustain a verdict for the prevailing party. See Lakeside-Scott v. Multnomah Cty., 556 F.3d 797, 802-03 (9th Cir. 2009). And because a post-verdict Rule 50(b) motion is “a renewed motion,” it is “limited to the grounds asserted in the pre-deliberation Rule 50(a) motion.” Go Daddy, 581 F.3d at 961.

2. Waiver

As an initial matter, Polara argues that “[b]ecause Campbell never raised any arguments regarding patent invalidity in its pre-verdict Rule 50(a) motion, Campbell has waived those arguments.” Dkt. 461 at 24. The Court disagrees.

a. Background

After Campbell rested its case, Polara moved for judgment on Campbell’s claim that the ’476 Patent was invalid because of Polara’s inequitable conduct. 6 Tr. 123-26.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
237 F. Supp. 3d 956, 2017 WL 754609, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polara-engineering-inc-v-campbell-co-casd-2017.