Berry v. Ford Motor Company

Filing 123

ORDER Granting in Part and Denying in Part 111 Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs. Signed by District Judge John Corbett O'Meara. (WBar)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

JOSEPH J. BERRY,
Case No. 11-10569
Plaintiff,
Honorable John Corbett O’Meara
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY,
Defendant.
/
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART
DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF FEES AND COSTS
This matter came before the court on defendant Ford Motor Company's June 12, 2015 Motion
for an Award of Fees and Costs. Plaintiff Joseph J. Berry and his counsel filed a response June 26,
2015; and defendant Ford filed a reply July 9, 2015. In addition, Ford filed an objection to the taxed
bill of costs June 22, 2015. On March 16, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit issued its mandate in the appeal of this case. The appellate court had affirmed this court's
prior decision and entered judgment in favor of Ford Motor Company February 8, 2016.
In exceptional patent cases a court may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing
party. 35 U.S.C. § 285. An exceptional case is one that stands out from others with respect to the
substantive strength of the party's litigating position or the unreasonable manner in which the case
was litigated. Octane Fitness, L.L.C. v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1749 (2014).
In this case Ford argues that plaintiff Berry's case was exceptionally weak and his pursuit of
the correction of inventorship claim was exceptionally poor, either of which would constitute an
exceptional case for which it should be awarded $422,303.81 in attorneys' fees. Although the court

agrees that Plaintiff's case was weak, it was not "exceptionally weak" to the extent that defendant
Ford, the prevailing party, should be awarded attorneys' fees.
In addition, Ford seeks $53,740.37 in costs that were not awarded in the initial Taxed Bill of
Cost. Having objected to the bill of costs and now shown the necessity for the exemplification and
copy fees, the court will order that the taxed bill of costs be amended to include them.
ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that defendant Ford Motor Company's June 12, 2015 Motion for an
Award of Fees and Costs is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.
It is further ORDERED that the request for attorneys' fees is DENIED.
It is further ORDERED that the request for additional costs for exemplification and copy fees
in the amount of $53,740.37 is GRANTED.

s/John Corbett O'Meara
United States District Judge
Date: April 5, 2016

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record on
this date, April 5, 2016, using the ECF system.

s/William Barkholz
Case Manager

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