When a court rules that your company has infringed a competitor’s patent, that’s bad enough. But when the court later finds your company infringed the same patent a second time and then holds your company in contempt—that’s a whole lot worse.

Contempt sanctions can be brutal, so few adjudged infringers would dare try to design around an already infringed patent. However, when the patent covers crucial technology, a company may have little choice.