Finding Fault Because Basis For Denying Attorneys' Fees Was Not Provided

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit remanded a district court's decision denying attorneys' fees, finding that a district court must articulate a basis for denying attorneys' fees. Energy Heating, LLC v. Heat On-The-Fly, LLC, Case Nos. 16-1559; -1893; -1894 (Fed. Cir., May 4, 2018) (Stoll, J).

A sole named inventor who founded Heat On-The-Fly obtained a patent directed to a method of performing hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," and filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Energy Heating. On summary judgment, the district court found that the sole inventor and his company used the claimed fracking process at least 61 times and collected more than $1.8 million from performing these processes before the critical date. The district court also found that the sole inventor knew that the patent process required him to file a patent application within one year of the first offer for sale or public use of his fracking process. Nevertheless, the inventor and