Summary: Preventive Medicine Expert Witness allowed to provide testimony even though the defendant states that he was not qualified to offer an expert opinion in this case.
Court Strikes Portion of Patent Expert Witness Report Based on Improper Methodology
Summary: The report of a Patent Expert Witness was limited in a copyright infringement case as to the apportionment of damages
Facts: This case (Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc. – United States District Court- Northern District of California – March 13, 2012) involves a patent dispute. The plaintiff, Oracle America, alleges that the defendant, Google, used code that was copyrighted. Dr. Ian Cockburn wrote a damages report for this case which included five methods of apportionment. First, Dr. Cockburn reviewed the 2006 request for $99 million to Google. Second, he suggested adjusting the pay of the lawsuit to $557 million to match potential lost revenue. Third, he adds on another $28 million by removing a revenue-sharing cap. Fourth, he encourages the use of alternative methods including the “group and value” and “independent significance” approaches. Fifth, he downwardly adjusts because of potential extraterritorial infringement. After the damage report had been reviewed, Dr. Cockburn’s calculated patent damages stood between $18 and $56 million with the copyright lost license fee between $35 and $112 million. Google then acted to strike the report.
Discussion: The court evaluated Dr. Cockburn’s potential apportionment methods. Dr. Cockburn started with the “Group and Value” method which focuses on specific patents and copyrights with the payment from Google to Oracle equaling their importance to the function of the smartphone. Google opines that this was a biased approach because Oracle engineers gave each patent their value, though this ended up being a point for cross examination instead. Dr. Cockburn concluded that there were lower and upper bound patents with the upper bound patents carrying more weight, thus being more of value. The court took issue with the upper bound ranking and ended up striking it with the lower bound and overall group and value method being approved. Additionally, damages did not have to be apportioned on a claim-by-claim basis and Dr. Cockburn’s value distribution curve was allowed to be applied after Google refuted their use.
Mortgages Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Part in Mortgage Dispute Case
Summary: Mortgages Expert Witness testimony allowed in spite of defendant’s arguments that the expert does not offer Payment Waiver Protection programs in his own business.
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Car Accident Litigation
Summary: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Expert Witness testimony allowed despite the plaintiff’s contention that an expert witness should examine the damages at issue.
Pathology Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Part in Civil Rights Case
Summary: Pathology Expert Witness allowed in part despite not having police procedures experience.
Correctional Healthcare Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Medical Care Litigation
Summary: Correctional Healthcare Expert Witness testimony allowed in case involving a stroke in a detention center even though the defendants argued that his testimony was irrelevant and prejudicial.
Railroad Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Part in Case Involving an Injury on the Job
Summary: Railroad Expert Witness testimony allowed in part related to a personal injury incurred on a railroad car despite the opinion by the court that his testimony would not assist the trier of fact.19
Mechanical Engineering Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Crash Lawsuit
Summary: Mechanical Engineering Expert Witness testimony not excluded in off-road crash and rollover case as the court opined that his testimony was based on a flawed methodology.
Personal Property Valuation Expert Witness Testimony Allowed In Property Damage Litigation
Summary: Defendant hired a Personal Property Valuation Expert Witness to provide testimony in relation to damage caused by Hurricane Harvey despite the plaintiff’s claim that the expert did not keep his notes.
Pharmacology Expert Witness Testimony Allowed in Wrongful Distribution of Medicine Claim
Summary: Pharmacology Expert Witness allowed in case claiming wrongful distribution of medication even though his report was produced from the facts in the case.