MGA Entertainment's Infringement of Laser Board Game Patent Did Not Warrant Trebled Damages

On April 29, the Federal Circuit ruled that a district court erred in tripling a jury’s damage award against Finnegan client MGA Entertainment. In 2007, Innovention Toys filed suit against MGA Entertainment for infringement of its laser board game patent. Initially, the district court found that the patent was valid and infringed by MGA. MGA appealed and while the Federal Circuit affirmed the infringement ruling, the court vacated and remanded the nonobviousness determination due to the district court excluding key prior-art references and incorrectly determining the level of ordinary skill in the art to be that of a layperson. Following the remand, the jury found that the patent was not obvious and that MGA’s infringement was willful. The jury awarded approximately $1.4 million in lost-profit damages to Innovention and then tripled the damage award because of MGA’s alleged willful infringement. Innovention was also awarded $1.8 million in attorney fees in a separate ruling. On appeal, MGA challenged the willful infringement determination and the Federal Circuit ruled that it was an error for the district court to conclude that MGA’s infringement was willful. The Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s willful infringement ruling and vacated the enhanced damages and attorney fees.