Opinion ID: 336567
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 142 With the antitrust issues decided, we return to the problem that initially gave rise to this lawsuit Yoder's allegation that Cal-Florida was infringing its plant patents and its consequent demand for damages. Cal-Florida responded with the predictable assertions of patent invalidity and noninfringement, among others. As discussed above, the only issues before this Court concern the seven patents that the district court ruled valid and infringed as a matter of law: 30 Red Torch, Gold Marble, Morocco, Promenade, Southern Gold, Mountain Snow, and Mountain Sun. 31 After considerable thought, we have decided that the district court correctly ruled that Cal-Florida failed to rebut the statutory presumption of validity with sufficient relevant evidence. Nevertheless, we hold that the court should not have trebled the damages found for the infringement, in light of the difficulty and novelty of the issues presented and the good faith defense of invalidity.