Law Firm Escapes Paying Opposing Costs in Patent Suit

A law firm does not owe a crowdfunding company its attorneys’ fees for prosecuting an ill-fated patent infringement lawsuit, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Gutride Safier LLP ducked more than $500,000 in fees and costs for actions in a lawsuit against Gust Inc. by AlphaCap Ventures LLC, a licensing company that doesn’t implement its patents.

The case was a test of the threshold at which law firms risk penalty to themselves for advancing potentially dubious claims for their clients. The split decision overruling a district court suggests the exact placement of the line remains murky.

The U.S. District Court ...