Posts Tagged: "Section 285"

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California recently ended a long, drawn-out patent infringement battle dealing with menu patents, which saw action in front of a jury, at the district court, at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), at the Federal Circuit, and even an unsuccessful petition to the Supreme Court. The resolution: The district court awarded Domino’s $2.7 million in attorneys’ fees and costs after finding the case exceptional within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 285.

On June 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) denied a request by Almirall for attorney fees incurred for work on an inter partes review (IPR) and for work done in connection with a motion before the Federal Circuit in Amneal Pharmaceuticals v. Almirall…. The CAFC explained that it does not appear that it has ‘had occasion to consider to what extent section 285 applies to IPR appeals’ and said that the plain meaning of section 285’s reference to “the court”, suggests that fees should only be awarded if they ‘were incurred during, in close relation to, or as a direct result of, judicial proceedings,’ which did not include USPTO proceedings.