SAN FRANCISCO (BRAIN) — A U.S. District judge invalidated the remaining claim of a patent infringement lawsuit by an intellectual property company against GoPro on Thursday, voiding a $8.2 million settlement for past damages.
Contour IP Holding LLC, a private-equity-backed intellectual property company holding patents for point-of-view on action sports cameras, filed lawsuits beginning in 2016 in various federal district courts alleging patent infringement by GoPro cameras. In October, a jury in the Northern District of California ruled none of GoPro’s products from 2020-2024 — including the HERO9 through the HERO13 Black cameras — infringed on Contour patents.
However, the jury awarded Contour the $8.2 million in damages because Judge William H. Orrick previously determined GoPro infringed in his summary judgement. Both parties then filed post-trial motions challenging aspects of the verdict, leading to Orrick’s decision Thursday.
In addition to the settlement being voided, Orrick’s order on the post-trial motions filed by both parties also includes denying Contour’s request for a new trial. The ruling is subject to appeal to the U.S. Court Of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The first patent infringement suit was filed in July 2016 in the District of Delaware before being transferred to the Northern District of California a year later at the request of GoPro. After Orrick ruled against Contour, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the decision in 2024, giving new life to the lawsuit.
Contour has patents for portable digital video cameras that record high-quality video while streaming a lower-quality file to another device like a smartphone for real-time viewing.
