Supreme Court Reverses Federal Circuit's Rigid Fee Shifting Standard in Patent Cases | Practical Law
In Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., the US Supreme Court held that a district court may determine fee-shifting under 35 U.S.C. § 285 in its discretion based on the totality of the circumstances, overruling an earlier decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that set a rigid fee-shifting standard. In the companion case of Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Mgmt. Sys., Inc., the court held that district court fee-shifting decisions should be reviewed for abuse of discretion.