Overturning a damage award of nearly $20 million involving a novelty beach item

When Walgreen Co. faced a damage award of nearly $20 million, including prejudgment interest, for infringement of a patent on a “head chair,” the company turned to Finnegan. Although Walgreen had sold only $220,000 of the product, a jury awarded over $1 million in lost profits and another $10 million in future lost profits, which grew to nearly $20 million with interest. On appeal, the Federal Circuit agreed with our argument that the jury award, and the expert testimony on which it was based, was so speculative that it could not stand. The court granted a remittitur, reducing the damage award to $220,000—the amount of actual sales—and further reversed the award of prejudgment interest as it was based on future sales that had not occurred.