July 2018,
A U.S. Supreme Court patent decision comes but only rarely. For the WesternGeco decision Law Week Colorado asked me for my insights.
In my view, this case really strengthens U.S. patents not just in awarding foreign damages, which is not new, but in awarding lost profits on high value lost services contracts that were performed by the infringer using much lower value 271(f)(2) infringing articles. Proximate cause for damages was treated as if it were a "but for" test. It doesn’t quite flip the script on overseas patent damages, but it is a huge case for the few people who can use or do use the same type of business model.
Overseas Lost Profits Fair Game for Patent Damages — in Limited Cases
