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against petitioner as the party in interest), finding that
Champion had willfully infringed the ‘431 patent that was owned
by Lemelson. The jury awarded damages of $4,647,905 for patent
infringement and $6,295,167 for prejudgment interest. The
District Court doubled the $4,647,905 damage award for patent
infringement due to the jury’s finding of willful infringement.
The finding of willfulness was based in part on the failure of
Champion (and on the failure of petitioner as the party in
interest) to secure an authoritative opinion on whether the
Trallfa robot violated the ‘431 patent until 2 months before
trial.
Petitioner appealed the judgment of the District Court to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On July 13,
1992, the Court of Appeals affirmed without published opinion the
decision of the District Court, Lemelson v. Champion Spark Plug
Co., 975 F.2d 869 (Fed. Cir. 1992). In 1992, after all appeals
were exhausted, petitioner paid the judgment, including
accumulated interest, of $17,067,339. The $17,067,339 judgment
included the damages and prejudgment interest totaling
$15,590,977 that were awarded by the District Court, postjudgment
interest of $1,470,389.92, and court costs of $5,971.74.
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