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Supreme Court: 'Willful Blindness' Supports a Judgment of Induced Infringement

BY John M. Cone
August 30, 2011

In Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A., 131 S. Ct. 2060 (2011), the Supreme Court held that “willful blindness” may satisfy the knowledge element required for a finding of induced infringement. In so doing, the Court rejected the prior “deliberate indifference” standard articulated by the Federal Circuit.

Factual History

SEB sells home cooking appliances in the United States under the trademark
T-fal. Among its successful products is the Uno deep fryer. The construction of the patented Uno fryer keeps the exterior of the fryer cool during operation without using expensive heat-resistant plastic material. Pentalpha, a Hong Kong company, manufactures cooking appliances for a number of different companies. In response to a request from Sunbeam Products, Pentalpha purchased a SEB deep fryer in Hong Kong and designed a competitive fryer by copying the SEB product in all but its cosmetic features.

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