The Halo effect – Appeals court upholds enhanced damages for willful infringement

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Abstract: The article discusses a Federal Circuit Court “test drive” of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2016 Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. ruling. Halo had rejected the notion that patent infringers can escape liability for enhanced damages if they muster a reasonable defense at trial. As the appeals court’s decision made clear, infringers can’t conjure defenses at trial to evade enhanced damages. A sidebar talks about how the same court clarified the potential weight of secondary considerations of nonobviousness. Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. No. 14-1513, June 13, 2016 (U.S.) WBIP, LLC v. Kohler Co., No. 15-1038, -1044, July 19, 2016 (Fed. Cir.)