The Effect of Alice on Attorneys' Fees Motions

Software patent litigation can often involve non-practicing entities (“NPEs”) and other plaintiffs that some have accused of asserting weak patents to extract royalties. It is no surprise, then, that defendants move for attorneys’ fees now that Alice has resulted in so many software patents being declared invalid. As discussed previously here, one defendant argued it was entitled to attorneys’ fees simply because a plaintiff asserted a software patent post-Alice. While that motion was unsuccessful, a recent decision shows the broad discretion given to district courts when determining attorneys’ fees post-Alice.

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