Hillman Grp., Inc. v. Minute Key Inc.

2. The Jury Instructions Regarding Bad Faith12

The Federal Circuit's decision in Zenith governs the bad faith inquiry. Zenith holds that "[e]xactly what constitutes bad faith remains to be determined on a case by case basis. Obviously, if the patentee knows that the patent is invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed , yet represents to the marketplace that a competitor is infringing the patent, a clear case of bad faith representations is made out." 182 F.3d at 1354 (emphases added). Hence this Court instructed the jury:

[I]f a patent holder knows that its patent is not infringed and yet…