A California jury has awarded pharmaceutical drug company Merck $200 million, a fraction of what it had sought, for infringement of two of its patents by Gilead Sciences, which based in the San Francisco area.
The jury based the $200 million award on a royalty rate of 4 percent on $5 billion in sales, compared with the 10 percent royalty on Gilead’s past sales of more than $20 billion sought by Merck. This is as reported in Law 360.
In calculating damages, jurors said they sought a middle ground. “We worked to get to something we could all agree so we weren’t hurting one side or the other,” juror Cody Shump, a 20-year-old San Jose resident, told Reuters.
The judge has yet to rule on future royalties.
ipcloseup.com 