March 29, 2007

In a March 29, 2007 order, Judge Susan R. Bolton of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona awarded $185,369.75 to Fitch Even client, The Chamberlain Group, Inc., the nation's leading garage door opener manufacturer. The award was in response to Chamberlain's request for attorney's fees arising out of litigation with Microchip Technology Incorporated. Microchip sued Chamberlain for declaratory judgment of non-infringement, invalidity, and breach of a license agreement regarding several of Chamberlain's patents protecting its remote control technology. Chamberlain denied all allegations, and further denied that there was any justiciable controversy between the parties. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a revious entry of summary judgment for Microchip, remanding the action to the district court with instructions to dismiss the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction based on the lack of a justiciable controversy.

Following the appeal, Chamberlain sought its attorneys' fees according to the terms of the license agreement between Chamberlain and Microchip. The District Court found that Chamberlain was entitled to a portion of its attorneys' fees as a prevailing party in the litigation. The district court ultimately awarded Chamberlain $185,369.75 in costs and fees incurred during the litigation.

Chamberlain is represented by Karl Fink, Rudy Kratz, and John Flannery.