Octane Fitness v. Icon Health & Fitness. It might sound familiar to patent lawyers. That was the 2014 case the Supreme Court used to ease the standard for awarding “exceptional case” attorney fees in patent litigation.
The decision definitely made an impression on U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery of Minnesota. Back in 2011, she’d brushed aside Octane Fitness LLC’s complaints about its competitor’s unreasonable claim construction and unfair litigation tactics and declined to award fees. After the Supreme Court decision, she awarded $1.4 million in fees and costs, saying that, in her 22 years as a judge, the case “stands out as a particularly and unusually weak case on the merits.”
