Jury Awards St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants in Patent Infringement Case Against Fuji

Minneapolis (October 2004) - A jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, Del., has found that Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. and FujiFilm America, Inc., infringed several patents owned by Grosse Pointe, Mich.-based St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants, Inc., and awarded St. Clair with $3 million in damages. St. Clair's lead trial attorney, Ronald J. Schutz of Minneapolis-based Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P., said the four patents at issue cover technology used in multiple-file format digital cameras, including very popular digital cameras that can take both still photos and short movie clips.

Filed February 23, 2003, the original complaint also named seven other defendants: Casio, Seiko-Epson, Canon, Kyocera, Minolta, Nikon and Olympus. All but Fuji and Canon settled before trial. A jury awarded St. Clair $34.7 million after finding that Canon had infringed those patents in a trial earlier this month, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington.

"The jury ruled in St. Clair's favor on all issues of infringement, validity and enforceability," said Schutz. "The verdict is reflective of Fuji's smaller market share, in comparison to Canon."

On February 25, 2003, a federal jury in Wilmington, Del., awarded St. Clair $25 million after finding Sony Corp. had infringed four patents relating to digital camera technology. Schutz was lead trial in that case, as well.