Via Transportation awarded ongoing royalties, damages against RideCo

Via Transportation (VIA) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has awarded the company a 10% running royalty on all future U.S. sales of RideCo, Inc.’s infringing products, in addition to an award for supplemental damages. The Honorable Alan D. Albright ruled from the bench that Via is entitled to an ongoing royalty rate of 10% on all future sales of RideCo’s infringing technology. In addition to the 10% royalty on future sales, the court awarded supplemental damages based on the royalty rate awarded by the jury to compensate for pretrial infringement of Via’s virtual bus stop patents. This decision follows a unanimous trial victory on January 30, in which RideCo was found to have infringed on three of Via’s patents that protect its core virtual bus stop technology related to on demand microtransit. The Court’s royalty award applies to all infringing products, including software platforms offering on-demand microtransit. RideCo’s attempt to overturn the jury’s infringement verdict was rejected, as the Court denied their motions for a new trial and for judgment as a matter of law. The Court also rejected RideCo’s argument that it had “designed around” the accused infringement and removed the infringing features, holding that the accused product continues to infringe. The Court declined to enter a permanent injunction at this time, but held open the possibility of enjoining RideCo from selling its infringing product in the marketplace if they fail to make quarterly royalty payments as ordered.