Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks -- 2020



Title Source, Inc. v. HouseCanary, Inc.   (Tex. Ct. App.)

Limiting excessive punitive damage awards

The NAM filed an amicus brief to persuade a Texas appellate court to reverse a $740 million jury verdict in a business dispute involving a joint venture in Texas. The case arose from an agreement between two technology companies over a $5 million contract involving house valuation software. After the defendant terminated the contract, the plaintiff company sued and alleged misappropriation of trade secrets. The court’s admission of unreliable expert testimony and inflammatory attacks on the defendant company led a jury to award the plaintiff $740 million in damages, including $470 in punitive damages. If not overturned, this award threatens to chill the creation of productive joint business ventures in Texas. The NAM’s amicus brief argued that no evidence supports the punitive damage award, and that the award is constitutionally excessive under Texas and U.S. Supreme Court precedent. On June 3, 2020, the court agreed, reversing the trial court judgement and remanding the case for a new trial.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (September 12, 2019)