The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld sanctions and $4.5 million worth of attorney fees against a medical company and its lawyers for pursuing frivolous claims in a patent case.
California Central District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer sanctioned ICU Medical Inc. and its lawyers at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in 2007 for their behavior in a patent case against Alaris Medical Systems Inc. The company is on the hook for the attorney fees, according to Pfaelzer’s order (pdf). But the judge wrote at the time that both the company and its counsel had violated Rule 11, which forbids pursuing frivolous claims.
