Micro Chemical, Inc. v. Lextron, Inc.

Micro Chemical (Micro) (plaintiff) patented a weight-based machine for delivering livestock micronutrients and placed its machines at feedlots for free, profiting instead from micronutrient sales. After Micro won a ruling that Lextron's (defendant) competing Type 2 machine infringed its patent, Lextron spent months developing and custom-fabricating parts for a redesigned, noninfringing Type 5 machine. Micro sought damages under both a lost-profits theory and a reasonable-royalty theory for the earlier Type 2 infringement, but the district court barred the lost-profits theory and, after a bench trial, awarded only a one-percent reasonable royalty. Micro appealed.