Update on Supreme Court Case for Patent Holders and Lost Profits Overseas
Friday, June 22, 2018
We recently published the article, Do Patent Holders Have Rights to Lost Profits Related to Acts Outside the US? about a patent case before the supreme court. Here’s today’s update:
According to IP Watchdog, “the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp., which in a 7-2 decision ruled that a patent owner may recover lost foreign profits for infringement under 35 U. S. C. 271(f)(2). The question decided, as set forth in the opinion by Justice Thomas, writing for the majority, was: ‘the question in this case is whether these statutes allow the patent owner to recover for lost foreign profits.’ Thomas simply answered the question in the opening paragraph saying: ‘We hold that they do.'”
Although not without dissent from 2 of the justices, this ruling is great news for patent holders.