On April 9, 2019, Judge Godbey tacked on $2.1 million in attorney’s fees to a $493,000 damages award in a case brought by Ford for design patent infringement (decision available here). (The Court had previously granted summary judgment of infringement and the jury found willful infringement and awarded damages).
Finding the case exceptional, Judge Godbey granted Ford’s Section 285 attorney-fee motion, but denied the motion with respect to (i) expert fees (which are not authorized under Section 285) and (ii) an “upward adjustment of the lodestar amount.”
Judge Godbey noted that the jury found willful infringement of 13 Ford design patents, and the testimony of two of the defendant’s former vice presidents “showed that [defendant] altered sales records to conceal its infringement.” Defendant also produced inaccurate sales records in discovery and misrepresented to Ford “on multiple occasions that it would stop selling the copied parts.” “Finally, [defendant] filed multiple excessive motions, including motions to dismiss, for clarification, and for reconsideration that unnecessarily prolonged litigation.”
Ford sought $2.1 million in attorney’s fees incurred during the four-year litigation, plus a $490,000 increase in the “lodestar amount” under the Johnson factors. Judge Godbey awarded the $2.1 million, but denied Ford’s request for an upward adjustment to the lodestar. The Court found Ford’s attorney’s billing rates reasonable because they were below the average prevailing hourly rates and were also within the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s average rates.