Despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that encourages more fee-shifting in patent cases, the online retailer and enthusiastic “troll hunter” Newegg Inc. got trounced on Friday in a fee fight with the patent licensing entity Pragmatus Telecom.
In an eight-page decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in Wilmington, Del., refused to shift attorneys fees and costs in a patent case Pragmatus brought against Newegg relating to “live chat” customer service technology. Andrews didn’t even reach the question of whether the case qualified as “exceptional,” and thus appropriate for fee shifting under patent precedent. Instead, he ruled that Newegg failed to show it won the infringement dispute in the first place.
