April 17, 2020

Patent
Precedents

IP High Court Grand Panel Decision on Calculating Amount of Damages based on Patentee's Lost Profit

The 14th IP High Court Grand Panel decision was handed down on February 28, 2020, in an infringement lawsuit (Case No. 2019 (Ne) 10003). The main issues of this case relate to the methods for calculating the amount of damages based on patentee’s lost profit (Article 102, paragraph 1 of the Patent Law), while the last (13th) IP High Court Grand Panel decision related to the amount of damages based on infringer’s profit (Article 102, paragraph 2 of the Patent Law). These Grand Panel decisions established unified rulings, i.e., abolishment of the idea of contribution rate, and clarification of infringer’s burden of proving the grounds for rebutting the presumption. These rulings are expected to increase the amount of compensation as damages, and thereby act as a deterrent to intentional infringement. This article summarizes the 14th IP High Court Grand Panel decision.