Supreme Court Shuts Down Appellate Patent Damage Standards

The U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for the possibility of drugmakers collecting enhanced damages in patent cases, striking down an appellate standard in a unanimous 8-0 decision.

After considering a consolidated case with two claims of patent infringement — one involving medical device makers Stryker and Zimmer and the other involving electronics companies Pulse Electronics and Halo Electronics — the high court nixed a two-part test established by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in determining when a district court may increase damages.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the main problem with the appellate court’s two-part test for awarding enhanced damages is the insistence on a finding of “objective recklessness” on the part of the patent infringer.