Opinion ID: 203606
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence To Support Jury Award of $250,000 in Damages

Text: Unisys argues that the evidence is insufficient to support the damages award, a challenge we review de novo to determine whether reasonable persons could not have reached the conclusion that the jury embraced. Attrezzi, 436 F.3d at 37 (quoting Sanchez v. P.R. Oil Co., 37 F.3d 712, 716 (1st Cir.1994)). The test for Unisys is a stringent one, requiring Unisys to demonstrate a total failure of evidence to prove plaintiff's case. Id. (quoting Vázquez-Valentín v. Santiago-Díaz, 385 F.3d 23, 29 (1st Cir.2004), vacated on other grounds, 546 U.S. 1163, 126 S.Ct. 1329, 164 L.Ed.2d 43 (2006)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Unisys argues that there was no proof of either actual harm or of causation, pointing to evidence that VSC's revenues had been in decline before Unisys' launch in 2004 of the 3D Visible Enterprise campaign. It argues that the decline in VSC's revenues immediately following the June 2004 publication of Unisys' advertisement in the Wall Street Journal represented one of a normal series of fluctuations in VSC's revenues and was not caused by the launch of Unisys' campaign. [5] Nonetheless, the jury heard testimony that VSC's revenues in the quarter immediately following the launch of Unisys' campaign were [p]robably the lowest in the history of the company. VSC introduced into evidence a chart of its quarterly revenues before and after the infringement as well as its financial statements from the relevant years. The jury could conclude that Unisys' infringement reduced VSC's average monthly revenue by approximately $28,000 in the period immediately following the infringement. Michael Cesino, VSC's President, testified that a later increase in revenues was due to VSC's re-hiring of an experienced salesman. The jury could have reasonably inferred that VSC's revenues would have been higher but for the infringement. Cesino's testimony provided a basis for the $250,000 figure. He testified the jury could determine VSC's lost profits by calculating a profit margin on operations (using VSC's revenues and operating expenses) and applying that margin to VSC's lost revenues. By using this method, the jury had a basis for determining that an award of approximately $250,000 was appropriate. In fact, VSC argued to the jury that an award of about $500,000 was appropriate. The award was neither excessive nor inadequate, itself a sign that the jury did not behave unreasonably. See Attrezzi, 436 F.3d at 40.