35 U.S.C. § 284
Section 284 · Damages
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 1,011 court decisions — leading case City of Lafayette Louisiana v. Louisiana Power & Light Company (1978)
Most recently applied in Ancora Technologies, Inc. v. Roku, Inc. (June 2025)
Applied most in the Third Circuit Circuit (103 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 35 U.S.C. § 285 · 35 U.S.C. § 271 · 35 U.S.C. § 103
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Upon finding for the claimant the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court.
When the damages are not found by a jury, the court shall assess them. In either event the court may increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed. Increased damages under this paragraph shall not apply to provisional rights under section 154(d).
The court may receive expert testimony as an aid to the determination of damages or of what royalty would be reasonable under the circumstances.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §§67 and 70, part (R.S. 4919; R.S. 4921, amended (1) Mar. 3, 1897, ch. 391, §6, 29 Stat. 694, (2) Feb. 18, 1922, ch. 58, §8, 42 Stat. 392, (3) Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 726, §1, 60 Stat. 778).
This section consolidates the provisions relating to damages in R.S. 4919 and 4921, with some changes in language.
Amendments
2011—Second par. Pub. L. 112–29 struck out “of this title” after “154(d)”.
1999—Second par. Pub. L. 106–113 inserted at end “Increased damages under this paragraph shall not apply to provisional rights under section 154(d) of this title.”
Effective Date of 2011 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 112–29 effective upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to proceedings commenced on or after that effective date, see section 20(l) of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as a note under section 2 of this title.
Effective Date of 1999 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective Nov. 29, 2000, and applicable only to applications (including international applications designating the United States) filed on or after that date, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, §4508] of Pub. L. 106–113, as amended, set out as a note under section 10 of this title.