Waco Jury Finds Willful Infringement and Awards Plaintiff Textron $279 Million in Drone Patent Suit

On July 19, 2021, Plaintiff Textron Innovations, Inc. (“Textron”) sued SZ DJI Technology, DJI Europe B.V., and DJI Technology, Inc. for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,014,909; 8,108,085; 8,078,395; 9,162,752; and 10,243,647, which relate to drone technology. On June 17, 2022, Textron filed its First Amended Complaint, asserting the same five patents against SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., DJI Europe B.V., SZ DJI Baiwang Technology Co., and iFlight Technology Company, Ltd. (all DJI entities are collectively referred to as “DJI”).

The complaint noted that Plaintiff was the patent-holding arm of parent company Textron Inc., and that the Asserted Patents originated with Fort-Worth based aerospace company Bell Textron Inc. The complaint further alleged that DJI’s products constituted more than 75% of the unmanned aircraft registered in the United States as of 2019.

A trial commenced April 17, 2023 where five claims from the ’909 and ’752 Patents (the “Asserted Claims”) were tried to a jury, with Textron seeking $367 million in damages. On April 21, 2023, the jury handed down the final verdict, which found:

• Textron proved by a preponderance of the evidence that DJI directly infringed all Asserted Claims.
• Textron proved by a preponderance of the evidence that DJI actively induced infringement of all Asserted Claims.
• Textron proved by a preponderance of the evidence that DJI’s infringement of the ’909 and ’752 Patents was willful.
• DJI failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that any Asserted Claims were invalid.

The jury awarded $30.7 million for infringement of the ’909 patent and $248.2 million for infringement of the ’752 patent, for a total award of $278.9 million.

Judge Albright presided over the trial and will make a determination whether Textron will be entitled to enhanced damages due to the willfulness finding of the jury.