Willful infringement is found under Seagate analysis
Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc., et al., C. A. No.04-1371-JJF, July 22, 2010.
Farnan, J. After trial, the court finds defendant willfully infringed plaintiff’s patents.
Separate trials were held on infringement and invalidity, and each trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiff. Subsequent to the infringement trial, the Seagate opinion issued and a new trial was held in light of that opinion. The court discusses the impact of Seagate in considering both pre- and post-litigation conduct. The court found that defendant acted despite an objectively high likelihood that its actions constituted infringement of a valid patent, and that defendant knew or should have known of this risk. Defendant was found to reverse-engineer and copy of some products, and to disregard other patents making little effort to ensure noninfringement. The absence of an opinion of counsel weighs heavily in this case in favor of demonstrating an objectively high likelihood of infringement. Post-litigation opinions are insufficient to overcome the overwhelming evidence of willful infringement.
