Dow Obtains Largest Canadian Patent Infringement Award In History

The Federal Court has issued its Further Judgment and Reasons (2017 FC 637) concerning the amount of financial compensation to be paid to the Dow Chemical Company as a result of earlier patent infringement and validity proceedings against NOVA Chemicals Corporation.

The final award totals over $645 million (including prejudgment interest), which is the largest reported award in a Canadian patent infringement case.

Steven Garland, Jeremy Want, Colin Ingram, Daniel Davies and Kevin Graham of Smart & Biggar acted as co-counsel on behalf of Dow.

Earlier Decisions on Infringement and Validity

The proceedings before the Federal Court were commenced in 2010. During the liability phase, the Federal Court upheld the validity of Dow's Canadian Patent No. 2,160,705 and found that Nova's SURPASS polymers infringed. The polymers are polyethylene compositions used in packaging applications including heavy duty bags, pallet wrapping and food packaging. Dow sells