SRI v. Cisco: What Willful Infringement Means
| Court | Federal Circuit |
|---|---|
| Decided | 28 September 2021 |
| Citation | Nos. 2020-1685, -1704 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 28, 2021), precedential |
| In one line | Willfulness asks whether the infringement was deliberate, and enhanced damages do not automatically follow from it. |
On September 28, 2021 the Federal Circuit reinstated a jury's willful infringement finding, applying the standard that under Halo "the concept of 'willfulness' requires a jury to find no more than deliberate or intentional infringement," while confirming that "an award of enhanced damages does not necessarily flow from a willfulness finding."
Willful infringement can triple a damages award, so what counts as willful matters enormously to any company that might be accused.
This decision states the standard plainly: willfulness requires no more than deliberate or intentional infringement. It is not a heightened test requiring egregious conduct. But the court also confirms that finding willfulness does not automatically produce enhanced damages, which remain a separate discretionary decision.
What made this infringement deliberate is worth noting: there was no evidence of copying and none of concealment. Cisco lost because it had no reasonable defense, having argued for a claim requirement the court had already rejected and against a fact its own internal documents established.
What This Case Is Not
- It does not hold that enhanced damages follow from willfulness. The opposite, explicitly.
- It does not address whether or how a company should review third-party patents.
- It does not tell you whether any particular conduct is willful.
Educational, not legal advice. Litigation strategy and exposure are determinations for counsel with the actual facts.
Sources
- SRI International, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 20-1685 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 28, 2021)
- The wider picture: what happens if you are sued, or you sue