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ARTICLE · 23 JUNE 2022

D. Mass. Patent Litigation Update: May 2022

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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In Banhazl v. The American Ceramic Society, et al., No. 1:16-cv-10791, following a bench trial Judge Burroughs awarded plaintiff Terrie Banhazl $161,939.52 in damages...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Cory C. Bell
Cory C. Bell
Matthew C. Berntsen
Matthew C. Berntsen
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This is part of a series of articles discussing recent orders of interest issued in patent cases by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

In Banhazl v. The American Ceramic Society, et al., No. 1:16-cv-10791, following a bench trial Judge Burroughs awarded plaintiff Terrie Banhazl $161,939.52 in damages for indirect infringement of her patent for a method of transferring two-dimensional images onto kiln fire able glossy substrates by defendant The American Ceramic Society (“ACS”). Judge Burroughs also found the asserted patent not invalid.

On infringement, Banhazl claimed ACS directly infringed through the production of two videos demonstrating a technique identical to the one disclosed in her patent. Judge Burroughs disagreed, determining that Banhazl failed to show ACS had direct control over the steps performed by the ceramists in the videos.

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