Federal Circuit Affirms JMOL of No Damages Due to Expert’s Testimony Failure to Apportion

In Rex Medical, L.P., v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc., Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC, No. 24-1072 (Fed. Cir. October 2, 2025), the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s reduction of the jury’s $10 million award to $1 in nominal damages and its denial of a new trial on damages.

Rex Medical sued Intuitive Surgical for $10 million, alleging infringement of its ’650 patent covering surgical stapling technology. Before trial, the district court precluded testimony from Rex’s damages expert based on a specific license agreement for failure to apportion damages to the licensed patents. A jury found that Intuitive directly infringed the ‘650 patent and awarded Rex the amount of money it requested, $10 million. In ruling on post-trial motions, the district court granted Judgment as a Matter of Law (JMOL) on damages, finding not only that there was no support for the jury’s $10 million award, but also that Rex failed to prove any damages at all. So the district court awarded Rex only nominal damages.

The Federal Circuit affirmed, agreeing with the district court that Rex’s damages expert failed to apportion damages. The Federal Circuit also affirmed the award of nominal damages, finding Rex provided insufficient evidence to formulate a reasonable royalty. And because Rex chose to “hinge its damages theory” on the same license, there was no abuse of discretion in denying a request for a new trial. The Federal Circuit also rejected Intuitive Surgical’s cross-appeals with respect to JMOL on infringement and invalidity.