Medical Devices

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The exclusive licensee and the owners of a portfolio of patents related to certain medical devices alleged one of the licensee’s leading competitors had infringed one of the patents in the portfolio.

The exclusive licensee and the owners of a portfolio of patents related to certain medical devices alleged one of the licensee’s leading competitors had infringed one of the patents in the portfolio. The plaintiffs sought reasonable royalty damages based on double digit running royalty rate. The defendant retained Cornerstone Research and Cecil Quillen, a senior advisor of Cornerstone Research, to analyze and respond to the plaintiffs’ damages claim.

A reasonable royalty for the single patent-in-suit could be derived from terms in existing license agreements.

Mr. Quillen analyzed the numerous existing license agreements for the portfolio that included the patent-in-suit and addressed the potential value of individual patents in the portfolio, including the patent-in-suit. Mr. Quillen found that the royalty rate advanced by the plaintiffs’ expert exceeded the royalty rate at which the entire portfolio had been repeatedly licensed.

Mr. Quillen also addressed the value of the alleged infringing feature to the accused products. Mr. Quillen compared the profit margins of the accused products and the defendant’s most nearly comparable products not accused of infringement and found that the royalties put forward by the plaintiffs’ expert exceeded the difference. He opined that a reasonable royalty for the single patent-in-suit could be derived from terms in existing license agreements. The case settled.