Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A.
Supreme Court
563 U.S. 754 (2011)
After SEB S.A. (plaintiff) patented a popular cool-touch deep fryer, Sunbeam hired Pentalpha, a subsidiary of Global-Tech Appliances (defendant), to design a competing fryer; Pentalpha bought an SEB fryer in Hong Kong (where it bore no U.S. patent markings), copied it entirely except for cosmetic details, and had an attorney conduct a patent search without disclosing that the design was copied directly from SEB's product, resulting in a search that failed to find SEB's patent. Pentalpha then sold the copied design to Sunbeam for U.S. sales; SEB sued Pentalpha for induced infringement, a jury found for SEB, and the Federal Circuit affirmed before the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether liability for actively inducing patent infringement requires the inducer's actual knowledge that the induced act constitutes infringement, or whether willful blindness to the patent's existence can satisfy that requirement.