Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Willful Infringement Without Litigation Misconduct Warrants Doubling, Instead of Tripling, of Damages Award

While the court granted plaintiff's motion to enhance the jury's award of nearly $16 million, the court doubled rather than trebled the damages award. "[T]he Court finds that there was no egregious litigation misconduct; the Defendants presented legitimate defenses; the motivation for harm was not sinister; and the Defendants made no attempts to conceal their misconduct. . . . [A] full enhancement of treble damages is not appropriate in light of the mitigating factors, especially the lack of litigation misconduct."

Metso Minerals, Inc. v. Powerscreen International Distribution Limited, et. al., 2-06-cv-01446 (NYED December 8, 2011, Order) (Spatt, J.)

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