The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in a pair of cases that the Federal Circuit's standards for awarding attorneys' fees to prevailing parties in "unreasonable" patent infringement cases must be eased. Gene Paige explained why the high court's decisions matter.
“The Supreme Court’s decisions in Octane and Highmark resemble its ruling in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC. In each case, the Court reversed the Federal Circuit’s adoption of rules specific to patent cases, and instructed that more general law should be applied. There, it was approving injunctions without considering the traditional equitable factors; here, it was applying tests for fee-shifting more stringent than the statutory language required, and reviewing such awards under standards different than those approved in Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx and Pierce v. Underwood.”
About Gene Paige
Mr. Paige successfully defends clients from infringement claims, and prosecutes cases on behalf of innovators who have had the fruits of their labor misappropriated. Mr. Paige has tried more than a dozen criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts, serving as first chair in the majority of those cases. He has litigated cases that involve cutting-edge technology such as semiconductor fabrication process technology, the co-expression of recombinant DNA, and the use of innovative methods of conducting business online. He enjoys learning about diverse subject matter areas and industries, and then constructing a winning strategy that will serve both the client’s legal needs and its business objectives.