EcoFactor, Inc. v. Google LLC, No. 23-1101 (Fed. Cir. May 21, 2025) (en banc)

Editorial Summary

AI-assisted editorial summary; not attorney-reviewed. Verify against the opinion itself before relying on any characterization of the holding.

Sitting en banc, the Federal Circuit reversed the Western District of Texas's (Albright, J.) denial of Google's motion for a new trial on damages, holding that the district court abused its discretion under Rule 702 and Daubert by admitting EcoFactor's damages expert's unreliable per-unit royalty-rate opinion, which was not adequately supported by the lump-sum licenses on which it rested. The court reinstated the portions of the panel opinion addressing issues other than damages, including the affirmance of the denial of Google's JMOL of non-infringement, and remanded for a new damages trial. The decision is a landmark for district-court gatekeeping of damages experts in patent cases.