Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc.

Before LINN, Circuit Judge, CLEVENGER, Senior Circuit Judge, and PROST, Circuit Judge.

This case involves standing and damages for patent infringement. Mars Incorporated (“Mars”) appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey precluding Mars from recovering damages on a lost profits theory and denying Mars’s motion to amend its complaint to add its subsidiary as a co-plaintiff in its infringement action against Coin Acceptors, Inc. (“Coinco”). Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, 2006 WL 2927239 (D.N.J. May 19, 2006) (denial of motion to amend and grant of summary judgment on lost profits theory); Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, 2006 WL 2927240 (D.N.J. Aug. 7, 2006) (grant in part of motion for reconsideration); Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, 2006 WL 2990371 (D.N.J. Oct. 18, 2006) (denial of motion to reconsider reconsideration). Coinco cross-appeals the district court’s judgment that Mars had standing to recover damages for the period between 1996 and 2003, and it appeals the reasonable royalty rate imposed by the district court. Mars, 2006 WL 2927240; Mars, 2006 WL 2990371; Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., No. 90-CV-0049, slip. op. (D.N.J. May 22, 2007) (final judgment on damages).