A devoutly religious inventor is about to become divinely rich.
In a 31-page opinion, a federal appeals court this week upheld a nearly $24 million verdict former Boca Raton resident Michael Powell won against Home Depot for stealing an invention that gave the home improvement a giant leg up on its competition.
“I’m thankful to the Lord that he gave us this victory,” said Powell, who now lives in Vero Beach. “It’s been a long, long road.”
It’s been seven years since he showed Home Depot officials a saw guard he invented that allowed it to continue to cut lumber for its customers without having to shell out as much as $1 million annually to employees who lost fingers while offering the unique service. It’s been four years since he filed suit, claiming the chain stole his “Safe Hands” saw. It’s been more than a year since a West Palm Beach jury and federal Judge Daniel Hurley agreed that it had.
“It’s done. It’s over with. I’m just a producing person,” Powell said of his ability to return to his first love, problem-solving, instead of being consumed by the legal fight.
Home Depot officials agreed not to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, said attorney Peter Herman, who represents Powell. However, a company spokesman said it may ask the Washington, D.C., court to reconsider its decision. Herman said less than 2 percent of such requests are granted.
Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said the company was disappointed by the ruling. “We would never intentionally violate another company’s intellectual property rights, we would never condone such behavior, and we are confident that we did not do so in this case,” he said.
However, the appeals court said, the evidence proved otherwise. As a result, it said Hurley was justified adding $3 million to the $15 million jury award. Calling the company arrogant and greedy, Hurley also ordered it to pay Powell’s $2.8 million legal bill and interest that began building in 2006.
Powell is now helping developing nations deal with problems they are encountering as they build hospitals, water systems and other necessities of modern life. Powell said he hasn’t decided how he will spend the money he will share with Herman and his other attorney, Alex Brown.
But, he said, his success should inspire struggling inventors that they can take on giants and win. The $15 million the jury awarded wasn’t just for the money Home Depot should have paid to install the saw guards in roughly 2,000 stores nationwide instead of having them duplicated for a cheaper price. The appeals court found the guard saved the company money by reducing losses and gave it a competitive edge.
“Now the small guy can sue. It isn’t about peanuts anymore,” he said. “It’s not going after what you should have been paid, it’s what it was worth to them.”
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