Patent Infringement Jury Award Raised to $3 Million for Shade Component Infringement | Knobbe Martens

Editor: John Sganga, Joe Cianfrani and Boris Zelkind

Patent Judgments and Awards

On February 8, 2018, Judge Andrew Guilford of the District Court for the Central District of California increased the jury award against Custom Blinds and Components Inc. (“CBC”) for patent infringement by just over $1 million at $3 million. Judge Guilford also awarded $400,000 in attorneys’ fees and $166,299 in prejudgment interest. The jury trial ended a three-year long legal battle, which began when Genes Industry Inc. (“Genes”) sued CBC for patent infringement for CBC’s sales of a component of a blind called a cord rocker, which is used to open and close blinds. CBC’s gross revenues from its sales of the counterfeit cord tilt product were over $13 million and net revenues were over $2.6 million. Given the jury’s finding that CBC’s infringement was willful and because CBC’s conduct during the litigation showed a lack of respect for the patent system, the court granted Genes the claim to triple the award. of the jury from $1 million to $3 million. The court also found that an award of attorney fees was appropriate, but did not grant Genes’ entire attorney fee claim. The court limited its award of attorney’s fees to $400,000 of the approximately $750,000 in fees sought. CBC appealed the decision to the Federal Circuit.