No Right Of Cross-Appeal From Favorable Decisions

In Nautilus Group, Inc. v. ICON Health and Fitness, Inc., (No. 05-1577; February 15, 2006), the Federal Circuit dismisses ICON's conditional cross-appeal from the district court's claim construction order. Nautilus appealed an unfavorable district court's final judgment on ICON's counterclaim for declaratory judgment of non-infringement. ICON then filed a conditional cross-appeal seeking review of certain claim construction rulings in the event of a reversal of the judgment of non-infringement. In dismissing ICON's cross-appeal, the Federal Circuit reiterates the principle that a “party has no right of cross-appeal from a decision in its favor.” A party who prevails on non-infringement has no right to introduce new arguments or challenge a claim construction, but may instead “assert alternative ground in the record for affirming the judgment.”