It’s been three months since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on fee-shifting in patent infringement lawsuits. But battles over how to apply the new standards are just beginning, as two companies at the center of the high court’s rulings illustrated this week.
In Highmark v. Allcare Health Management Systems and Octane Fitness v. ICON Health & Fitness, the Supreme Court wrestled with when judges can find patent cases “exceptional,” and therefore appropriate for attorney fee awards against losing plaintiffs. The court’s April 29 decisions (here and here) lowered the requirements for an exceptional case finding, outlining new standards that make it easier to shift fees in meritless cases.
