The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in ClearOne Communications, Inc. v. Biamp Systems on Monday, August 8, 2011.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s decision. Respondent filed suit against Petitioner alleging that Petitioner misappropriated its trade secrets by licensing products from another company that illegally incorporated those trade secrets. After a jury trial, the jury found in Respondent’s favor on all of its claims. The district court assessed damages for lost profits and unjust enrichment, awarded Respondent exemplary damages, and also ordered Petitioner to pay Respondent’s attorney fees and nontaxable expenses. Petitioner now appeals.
The Court affirmed all aspects of the district court’s judgment except for the lost profits and exemplary damages awards which constituted improper additur; “the district court’s interpretation of the jury’s verdict amounted to an improper additur because, due to the wording of the verdict form, it is entirely possible that the jury intended to find that [Respondent] suffered a total of $956,000 in lost profits.” As to those portions of the judgment, the Court reversed and remanded with directions to enter judgment against Petitioner for the original $956,000 jury verdict in lost profits, jointly and severally with the other defendants, and $853,334 in exemplary damages individually.
