Fees Incurred In Voluntary Parallel IPR Unrecoverable

On May 20, the Federal Circuit held fees incurred in voluntary parallel IPR proceedings were not recoverable under 35 U.S.C. § 285. Dragon Intell. Prop. LLC v. DISH Network L.L.C., No. 2022-1621, slip op. at 8 (Fed. Cir. May 20, 2024). The decision affirmed the district court's grant-in-part and denial-in-part of attorneys' fees following a decade long dispute between Dragon Intellectual Property LLC (Dragon) and defendants DISH Network L.L.C. (DISH) and Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SXM).

In December 2013, Dragon sued DISH, SXM and eight other defendants alleging infringement of claims of U.S. Patent No. 5,930,444. A year later, DISH filed a petition seeking inter partes review of the '444 patent, which SXM joined after the PTAB instituted review. After the PTAB held all asserted claims unpatentable and the district court entered judgment of noninfringement, DISH and SXM moved for attorneys' fees under § 285. The district court awarded fees due to the