According to court documents, the ongoing patent infringement litigation between EagleView Technologies and Xactware's parent company, Verisk Analytics, just resulted in another big win for EagleView. The latest ruling, dated Feb. 16, 2021, awarded EagleView an additional $250 million in damages, after a jury determined Verisk infringed on multiple EagleView patents. This brings total damages to $375 million. Xactware is named a co-defendant in the case.
EagleView was initially awarded $125 million by a jury in September of 2019; now, a federal judge in New Jersey has awarded the company the additional $250 million in what is referred to as "treble damages." According to a legal dictionary, treble damages are: "A recovery of three times the amount of actual financial losses suffered which is provided by statute for certain kinds of cases."
In the lawsuit, Verisk was also ordered to pay attorney and other fees, which bumps the total amount of penalties over $400 million.
According to an article on Law360, U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb issued a scathing order against Verisk, stating the company "willfully infringed with specific animus" toward EagleView. Verisk is also accused to trying to "slip" impermissible evidence into the trial that, in the end, undermined Verisk's own arguments, according to the judge.
EagleView is a well-known and widely used aerial imaging resource for contractors and insurance companies. This lawsuit involves aerial patents dating back to 2015. Again according to the Law360 article, "EagleView and affiliate Pictometry International Corp. accused Xactware and Verisk of infringing claims in nine patents with Xactware's own rooftop measurement products. Xactware hit back with counterclaims, arguing that the asserted patents were invalid."
Xactware's attorneys argued EagleView's patent claims were an abstract idea of the use of photographs to survey or measure objects, like roofs. The initial 2019 ruling banned Verisk and Xactware from making and selling certain similar products.
Within court documents, Xactware representatives stated they saw EagleView as a real threat to their business and admitted at that time that they had to adopt EagleView's technology for themselves or work with EagleView.
While the federal judge has ruled, R&R took a look at court documents and discovered some motions in this matter are still ongoing. On April 7, 2021, there was an order filed granting a letter request for an extension of the deadline to file a motion to seal and redactions for the briefings on EagleView's motion for attorney fees. On March 15, 2021, Xactware also filed a notice of appeal in federal circuit court in Washington, D.C.
R&R is closely reviewing and keeping an eye out for any further developments in this case. Check back for additional information and expert industry input.