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Client Alert
Federal Circuit Overrules Precedent - A Sea Change in the Law on Willfulness
August 21, 2007
Lawrence Gotts, Bruce Wexler, Michael Bednarek and Aslan Baghdadi
In a decision dated August 20, 2007, Seagate Technology, LLC (Miscellaneous Docket No. 830), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed precedent dating almost to the inception of that Court, and raised the standard for proving that an adjudged infringers conduct was willful (which could entitle the patent owner to up to treble damages and attorney fees).