Federal Circuit affirms 9-figure verdict under 5th Circuit standards

In Versata Software v. SAP America, the Federal Circuit affirmed jury verdicts that will likely lead to a judgment in excess of $400 million.  That Circuit’s review of a verdict is “reviewed under regional circuit law,” as to which the Court observed: “The Fifth Circuit applies an ‘especially deferential’ standard of review ‘with respect to the jury verdict.'”  (citing Brown v. Bryan County, 219 F.3d 450, 456 (5th Cir. 2000)).  In affirming the award for a reasonable royalty, the Court quoted the recent case of Huffman v. Union Pacific R.R., which discussed “inference on the basis of common sense, common understanding and fair beliefs, grounded on evidence consisting of direct statement by witnesses or proof of circumstances from which inferences can fairly be drawn.”  675 F.3d 412, 421 (5th Cir. 2012).  (Huffman is nominally about the causation requirements of FELA, but its analysis easily extends to other basic Daubert issues.)