The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that
patented articles must be marked in order for the patentee to
recover pre-notification or pre-complaint damages. Arctic Cat
Inc. v. Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., Case No.
19-1080 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 19, 2020) (Lourie, J).
In 2002, Arctic Cat entered into a licensing agreement with
Honda for patents related to personal watercraft. The license
agreement contained no provisions requiring Honda, as a licensee,
to mark all licensed products with the applicable patent numbers.
Honda began selling unmarked watercraft, and Arctic Cat made no
attempt to ensure that the products were marked. Approximately a
decade later, Honda stopped selling the unmarked products.
