An Ohio federal court has ruled that ALPS South, St. Petersburg, Florida, must pay for the legal services it used during a patent infringement suit, rejecting ALPS’ claim that the law firm’s rates and hours billed were too high. A chief U.S. Magistrate judge called for a $639,946.18 lien on funds paid to ALPS through its 2015 settlement with WillowWood, Mt. Sterling, Ohio.
The law firm, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, represented ALPS against WillowWood’s patent infringement accusations for seven years. Shumaker billed ALPS about $1.3 million, with about $680,000 outstanding, while ALPS claimed that it should pay no more than $300,000 based on the quality of Shumaker’s representation in another matter for ALPS, according to Law360.
The original suit began in December 2004 when WillowWood filed a complaint against ALPS for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,830,237 (237), titled “Gel and Cushioning Devices.” ALPS then filed a counterclaim accusing WillowWood of inequitable conduct.
