A federal judge awarded Arctic Cat $46.7 million in a patent infringement lawsuit filed against Bombardier Recreational Products Inc.
Arctic Cat wins triple damages in patent infringement case against Bombardier
June 16, 2016 at 12:50AM
Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida in Miami on Wednesday more than tripled the $15 million award recommended by the jury. The jury earlier this month found that Bombardier's Sea-Doo watercraft "willfully" infringed upon two of Plymouth-based Arctic Cat's patents.
"We are very pleased with today's court ruling," said Arctic Cat CEO Christopher Metz. "The jury and federal court judge found that each of our patents in this case were valid, and agreed that Bombardier willfully infringed on our patents over the course of many years."
The patents deal with an "off-throttle" assisted-steering technology that is a safety mechanism for personal watercrafts. The technology was designed to prevent on-water collisions and accidents, the company said.
In its lawsuit, Plymouth-based Arctic Cat argued that Bombardier infringed on its patents on 151,790 personal watercraft models introduced between 2009 and 2015. The jury and judge agreed, giving the struggling Arctic Cat a win as it attempts to restructure, rid dealerships of old inventory and return to profitability. In fiscal 2015 the maker of all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and watercraft components lost $9.2 million on sales of $632.9 million.
On Wednesday's news, Arctic Cat's stock rose $1.94 to close at $17.52 per share.
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