Federal Circuit affirms $61 million win for PPC Broadband

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed a willful infringement district court judgment and an approximately $61 million damages award for Finnegan client PPC Broadband regarding its coaxial cable connector technology. The federal suit, which was PPC’s second against the Corning Inc. subsidiary, alleged that while Corning initially changed its product to a noninfringing design after the first trial, it had secretly reverted to the patented design. After PPC won the second suit at district court, Corning appealed and raised numerous issues, including claim construction, noninfringement, willful infringement, and damages, but the Federal Circuit affirmed per curiam without opinion in PPC’s favor. Following the panel affirmance, Corning requested rehearing from both the panel and the en banc court to reconsider the application of the Supreme Court’s Halo decision to the issues of willful infringement and enhanced damages, but the Federal Circuit denied the petition, resulting in a complete victory for PPC.