SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc.

This case began in August of 1999 when Plaintiff SEB S.A. (“SEB”) sued defendants Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. (“Montgomery Ward”), Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. (“Global-Tech”), and Pentalpha Enterprises, Ltd. (“Pentalpha”) for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,995,312 (the “’312 patent”). Almost seven years later, a jury found that Pentalpha had willfully infringed, and induced infringement of, claim 1 of the ’312 patent and awarded SEB $4.65 million in damages. Pentalpha filed post-trial motions on a number of grounds. The district court granted them in part, reducing the amount of damages by $2 million. SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., No. 99-9284, 2007 WL 3165783 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 9, 2007) (“JMOL Opinion”). The district court awarded SEB enhanced damages and attorneys’ fees, but later vacated that award in light of this court’s decision in In re Seagate Technology, LLC, 497 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (en banc). SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., No. 99-9284, 2008 WL 4540416 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2008) (“Enhanced Damages Opinion”). On appeal, Pentalpha raises a host of issues that relate to the jury verdict and the district court’s post-trial rulings. SEB cross-appeals the district court’s enhanced damages ruling. Detecting no reversible error in the district court proceedings, this court affirms.

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