Real world economic analysis is becoming very important in the development of defensible damages for patent infringement. Cases have turned on the economic impact of the availability of alternatives and the timing of a reasonable royalty negotiation, as well as the definition of the markets in which a technology competes. To address this changing environment, Law Seminars International hosted a seminar in San Francisco on 26-27 February 2007. The program included a trial scenario to give an in-depth look at the techniques used by successful trial lawyers and damages experts in determining whether damages include lost profits, and, if so, the size of the market in which the infringer competes, the number of competitors in that market, sales lost by the patent holder to the infringer, and the amount of price erosion as a result of the infringer's activities.

NERA Senior Vice President Dr. Alan Cox, who served as Program Co-Chair, opened the seminar with an overview of the mock patent infringement case and also played the role of the Plaintiff's expert on lost profits. In addition, Senior Vice President Christian Dippon delivered a presentation on economic issues in determining whether damages include lost profits. The conference also included a presentation by Professor Mark Lemley of the Stanford Law School on the topic of royalty stacking.