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Jaguar Wins $2 Million in “Exceptional Case” Fees

August 10, 2016 | Posted in : Expenses / Costs, Fee Award, Fee Entitlement / Recoverability, Fee Request

A recent law.com story, “Jaguar Wins $2 Million in ‘Exceptional Case’ Fees,” reports that a Delaware federal judge has signed off on automaker Jaguar Land Rover North America’s request for more than $2 million in “exceptional case” attorney fees and expenses over a patent infringement case that was deemed “objectively baseless.”

The award covers work Jaguar outside counsel Latham & Watkins and Shaw Keller put in to defend their client since October 2013, when plaintiff Vehicle Interface Technologies (VIT) knew that its case could not succeed.  VIT, a subsidiary of patent holding company Empire IP, had sued the luxury carmaker in 2012, claiming infringement of a patent for dashboard displays.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews of the District of Delaware invalidated the patent in early 2015, finding that it was anticipated by a previous product.  Later that year, he gave Jaguar the go-ahead to seek attorneys fees, given the “exceptional” nature of the case.

Andrews said VIT had waited until two hours before the close of fact discovery to add seven Jaguar vehicles to its infringement contentions.  When Andrews blocked that move, VIT filed a new suit targeting the seven vehicles.  Meanwhile, part of its claim construction was “not even close” to being proper, the judge ruled.

Jaguar had initially asked for $2.8 million, but that number was scaled back after Andrews knocked out expert witness fees.  Jaguar, he said, could collect fees for the 228 hours its attorneys spent preparing briefing and oral arguments on the company’s successful motion for summary judgment.

Jaguar was also entitled to fees stemming from VIT’s Federal Circuit appeal because the plaintiff “relied on the same arguments on appeal that I have found so lacking in merit.”

The award is the second exceptional case finding Empire has been hit with in this litigation campaign.  Andrews declared a similar suit against Ford Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. exceptional last year.  The parties settled the amount of fees.

Matthew Moore, the Latham & Watkins attorney who led Jaguar’s team, has criticized VIT’s handling of the case.  In December, he told Law.com affiliate The Recorder that the plaintiff knew its patent would likely be invalidated, and simply wanted to leverage the nuisance value of its suit against Jaguar.

The case is captioned Vehicle Interface Technologies v. Jaguar Land Rover North America.