Hormel Foods Corp. lost a U.S. appeals court ruling Monday that set aside an $18 million jury verdict that ConAgra Foods Inc. tried to monopolize the market for browning precooked meat.
Hormel's Jennie-O Turkey division and closely held Unitherm Food Systems Inc. won a jury trial in Oklahoma last year in which they accused ConAgra's Swift-Eckrich of trying to use an invalid patent to thwart competition. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated that decision Monday and sent the case back to the trial court.
ConAgra originally accused Jennie-O and Unitherm of infringing its patent. The patent was deemed invalid, and the jury agreed with Unitherm's counterclaims that ConAgra interfered with its business and sought monopoly power. The appeals court Monday upheld a portion of the verdict that ConAgra tried to hinder Unitherm sales of browning equipment.
The Federal Circuit, a Washington, D.C.-based court that specializes in U.S. patent law, said Unitherm didn't adequately prove the antitrust allegation, saying that Oklahoma-based Unitherm failed to present evidence concerning the market that ConAgra was accused of trying to monopolize.
"The fact that the appeals court reduced damages from $18 million to $4 million justifies our appeal, and we'll study the opinion to see what other options we have," said Bob McKeon, a spokesman for Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra.
Officials for Austin-based Hormel couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
ConAgra originally accused Jennie-O and Unitherm of infringing its patent. The patent was deemed invalid, and the jury agreed with Unitherm's counterclaims that ConAgra interfered with its business.Bloomberg News/Sarah Decker
