Lighting control group Lutron whose products are distributed in Australia by Avation has had a big win in a US Court despite being found guilty of infringing on the patents of a competitor.
Recently a new fight unfolded in the messy US case of Lutron Vs GeigTech after a judge initially slapped Lutron with a A$53.6-million-dollar damages ruling after the Company was accused of patent infringement relating to motorised blind technology owned by GeigTech who trade as Geiger Blinds.
Hit by the massive fine Lutron appealed and the penalty was lowered to A$5.8M by another court, GeigTech were not happy with this ruling and appealed the decision.
This resulted in a new jury being convened for a special trial to determine “reasonable damages”.
GeigTech, is the manufacturer of motorised shade products marketed under the J Geiger brand, an independent company owned by Savant whose products are also distributed by Queensland based Avation.
GeigTech who was not happy with the amended damages ruling, appealed the decision this resulted in a new round of discussions under the auspices of the Courts in an effort to get a reasonable settlement.
When neither party could reach a settlement, the judge cut off the discussions and told GeigTech they had two options:
1) Accept US$3.8 million as the final award amount and be done with the matter, or
2) Set a new trial to be convened solely for the purpose of determining a reasonable number of damages.
GeigTech chose option #2, to have a new trial which kicked off this week.
The three-day trial resulted in the damages being reduced to US$2,672,000 which was A$1.8M less than what Lutron was facing having to pay.
The new award was substantially less than the $3.8 million they had already been offered.
Ironically both Companies spent over A$7M in legal fees fighting the case according to court documents.
