Baseball Pitching Machine Patent Suit Ends With $776,000 Award

Baseball pitching machine designer Probatter Sports LLC was awarded $776,000 in damages in a long-running suit alleging Sports Tutor Inc. infringed patents for a feature that creates unpredictable pitches.

Applying a “hypothetical negotiation theory of damages,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut said the parties would have agreed on a 3.5% royalty on the total revenue Sports Tutor received for selling the infringing machines if they had negotiated an agreement before the infringement began.

The court also granted Probatter’s request for enhanced damages, doubling a $388,000 award, and ordered Sports Tutor to pay pre-judgment interest.

Enhanced damages ...