Federal Circuit Upholds $162K Fee Victory for Vizio in Ramey Case

By Editorial Team

The Federal Circuit recently upheld a ruling requiring a patent owner represented by Ramey LLP to pay Vizio Inc., a television manufacturer owned by Walmart Inc., nearly $162,000 in attorney fees. The court found that the patent suit brought by Ramey LLP on behalf of the patent owner was weak and litigated in an unreasonable manner.

The case involved patents related to brokering data between wireless devices, servers, and data rendering devices. The patents in question were U.S. Patent No. 9,147,299 and U.S. Patent No. 9,549,285.

According to the court’s opinion, the lawsuit brought by Ramey LLP on behalf of the patent owner was deemed weak, and the litigation tactics were considered unreasonable. As a result, Vizio Inc. was awarded attorney fees totaling almost $162,000.

The decision by the Federal Circuit to uphold the fee award highlights the importance of pursuing patent litigation in a reasonable and meritorious manner. It serves as a reminder to patent owners and their legal representatives to carefully consider the strength of their claims and litigation strategies to avoid potential fee awards in the event of an unfavorable outcome.

The case involved several other parties, including Google LLC, Lex Machina Inc., Netflix Inc., Panasonic Corp., Roku Inc., and Walmart Inc. The litigation took place in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

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