$46M for Infringement on Air Flow Patents

Honeywell International Inc. v. Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., No. 99-CV-309 (D. Del)

"In 1999, Honeywell and its subsidiary, Honeywell Intellectual Property Inc., sued Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., charging that Sunstrand had violated patents on the Honeywell surge-control method by copying Honeywell's method from auxiliary power units sold to the French company Airbus, which was also a customer of Honeywell.

Hamilton Sunstrand denied any infringement and claimed that the Honeywell patents were invalid on the basis of prior art. But a Wilmington, Del., jury found the patents valid and infringed and that the infringement was willful. The jury awarded $ 46.58 million. Robert G. Krupka of the Los Angeles office and Jonathan Putnam of the New York office of Chicago's Kirkland & Ellis represented Honeywell."

 This article appeared in its entirety in the March 19, 2001 issue of The National Law Journal.