Full opinion text
MICHEL, Chief Judge. Microsoft Corporation appeals the denial of posLtrial motions concerning a jury verdict that U.S. Patent No. 4,763,356 (the “Day patent”) was not invalid and that Microsoft indirectly infringed the Day patent. Microsoft also appeals the $357,693,056.18 jury award to Lucent Technologies, Inc. for Microsoft’s infringement of the Day patent. Because the validity and infringement decisions were not contrary to law and supported by substantial evidence, we affirm. Because the damages calculation lacked sufficient evidentiary support, we vacate and remand that portion of the case to the district court for further proceedings. BACKGROUND In the 1970s, niche groups of hobbyists, including two teenagers in a Los Altos garage, built personal computers from scratch. In the early to mid-1980s, personal computing gained popularity although still in its infancy. In 1982, a fifteen-year-old high school student created the first public computer virus, spreading it among personal computers via floppy disks, most likely the 5%-inch version, as the 3/é-inch disk wasn’t introduced until a few years later. Commercially available operating systems at the time were mainly text-based with few, if any, graphical interfaces. In 1984, with its now famous “1984” commercial aired during Super Bowl XVIII on Black Sunday, Apple Computer announced the introduction of its Apple Macintosh, the first widely sold personal computer employing a graphical user interface. The following year, Microsoft introduced its own version of a graphical operating system, Windows 1.0. 1. The Day patent is now assigned to Lucent. In December 1986, three computer engineers at AT & T filed a patent application, which eventually issued as the Day patent. The patent is generally directed to a method of entering information into fields on a computer screen without using a keyboard. A user fills in the displayed fields by choosing concurrently displayed, predefined tools adapted to facilitate the inputting of the information in a particular field, wherein the predefined tools include an onscreen graphical keyboard, a menu, and a calculator. The system may display menus of information for filling in a particular field and may also be adapted to communicate with a host computer to obtain the information that is inserted into the fields. In addition, one of the displayed fields can be a bit-mapped graphics field, which the user fills in by writing on the touch screen using a stylus. In 2002, Lucent1 initiated the present action against Gateway, and Microsoft subsequently intervened. The appeal comes from the consolidated action of three separate infringement suits filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, the District of Delaware, and the Southern District of California. The consolidated action was originally before Senior Judge Rudi Brewster. In October 2007, Judge Brewster severed part of the patent infringement case for transfer to Judge Marilyn Huff. The court severed and transferred for further proceedings all matters relating to the Day patent and U.S. Patent Nos. 4,383,272; 4,958,226; 5,347,295; and 4,439,759. At trial, Lucent charged infringement by Microsoft of claims 19 and 21, among others, of the Day patent. Lucent alleged indirect infringement of claim 19 based on the sales and use of Microsoft Money, Microsoft Outlook, and Windows Mobile. As to claim 21, Lucent asserted that the use of Windows Mobile infringed. Lucent also alleged infringement by Dell and asserted claims of the other patents as well, but those issues are not on appeal. Microsoft challenged Lucent’s infringement contentions, contending among other defenses that the Day patent was invalid for being anticipated or obvious and, even if valid, Microsoft’s sales of its products did not infringe the Day patent. The jury found Microsoft liable on claim 19 as to all three products and on claim 21 as to Windows Mobile but returned a finding of no infringement by Dell as to those two claims. The verdict, without distinguishing among the three products or between inducement and contributory infringement, awarded a single lump-sum against Microsoft for all products involved. The jury awarded $357,693,056.18 for Microsoft’s infringement of the Day patent, excluding prejudgment interest. The parties filed numerous post-trial motions, including Microsoft’s renewed motions seeking judgment as a matter of law that the Day patent was anticipated and obvious and motions challenging the jury’s finding of infringement and the jury’s award of damages. In particular, Microsoft sought judgment as a matter of law that claims 19 and 21 were anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) and (g) or were obvious under § 103. The district court found substantial evidence in the record to support the jury’s determination that the defendants had not proven the Day patent to be invalid. The district court also held that neither judgment as a matter of law nor a new trial was appropriate on the jury’s finding that Lucent had proven damages in the amount of approximately $358 million. The district court granted only the post-trial motion setting aside the obviousness verdict concerning U.S. Patent No. 4,958,226 but denied all other post-trial motions, including those for the Day patent. See Lucent Techs., Inc. v. Gateway, Inc., 580 F.Supp.2d 1016 (S.D.Cal. 2008). Microsoft has timely appealed the district court’s decision. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1). ANALYSIS I. Standards of Review When reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) after a jury verdict, we “ ‘appl[y] the same standard of review as that applied by the trial court.’ ” Wechsler v. Macke Int’l Trade, Inc., 486 F.3d 1286, 1290 (Fed.Cir.2007) (quoting nCube Corp. v. SeaChange Int’l, Inc., 436 F.3d 1317, 1319 (Fed.Cir.2006)). Furthermore, “[t]he grant or denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law is a procedural issue not unique to patent law, reviewed under the law of the regional circuit in which the appeal from the district court would usually lie.” Summit Tech., Inc. v. Nidek Co., 363 F.3d 1219, 1223 (Fed.Cir.2004). In the Ninth Circuit, a district court grants JMOL only “if the evidence, construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, permits only one reasonable conclusion, and that conclusion is contrary to the jury’s verdict.” Pavao v. Pagay, 307 F.3d 915, 918 (9th Cir.2002). Similarly, a district court in the Ninth Circuit “may grant a new trial only if the verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence.” Id. “Infringement is a question of fact, reviewed for substantial evidence when tried to a jury.” Finisar Corp. v. DirecTV Group, Inc., 523 F.3d 1323, 1332 (Fed.Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 129 S.Ct. 754, 172 L.Ed.2d 727 (2008). Obviousness is a legal question reviewed de novo. PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. v. ViaCell, Inc., 491 F.3d 1342, 1359 (Fed.Cir. 2007), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 1655, 170 L.Ed.2d 355 (2008). The statutory standard requires us to decide whether the subject matter of the claimed invention “would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which [the subject matter of the invention] pertains.” 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) (2006); see also KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-16, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 167 L.Ed.2d 705 (2007). “Underpinning that legal issue are factual questions relating to the scope and content of the prior art, the differences between the prior art and the claimed invention, the level of ordinary skill in the art, and any relevant secondary considerations, such as commercial success, long-felt need, and the failure of others.” PharmaStem, 491 F.3d at 1359. We review for an abuse of discretion a district court’s decision concerning the methodology for calculating damages. Unisplay, S.A. v. Am. Elec. Sign Co., 69 F.3d 512, 517 n. 8 (Fed.Cir.1995); see also State Indus., Inc. v. Mor-Flo Indus., Inc., 883 F.2d 1573, 1576-77 (Fed.Cir.1989) (noting that the precise methodology used in “assessing and computing damages is committed to the sound discretion of the district court”). We review the jury’s determination of the amount of damages, an issue of fact, for substantial evidence. SmithKline Diagnostics, Inc. v. Helena Labs. Corp., 926 F.2d 1161, 1164 n. 2 (Fed. Cir.1991). “A jury’s decision with respect to an award of damages ‘must be upheld unless the amount is grossly excessive or monstrous, clearly not supported by the evidence, or based only on speculation or guesswork.’ ” State Contracting & Eng’g Corp. v. Condotte Am., Inc., 346 F.3d 1057, 1072 (Fed.Cir.2003) (quoting Brooktree Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 977 F.2d 1555, 1580 (Fed.Cir.1992)). II. Invalidity Before the jury, Microsoft engaged in a multi-pronged attack of the Day patent’s validity. Microsoft argued, for example, that the Day patent was anticipated under § 102(b) and (g) and obvious under § 103. On appeal, Microsoft challenges only the district court’s denial of the JMOL motion on obviousness. Microsoft does not challenge any of the district court’s claim constructions. In analyzing the obviousness defense, we therefore must apply the claim construction as it was presented to the jury. Further, Microsoft relies on only a single prior art document for its obviousness position with respect to claim 19. Independent claim 19 is directed to a method of inputting data using certain predefined “tools” and entering that information into particular fields displayed in a computer form. Claim 21 depends from claim 19 and further specifies that the information field is displayed as “a bit-mapped-graphics field.” Claims 19 and 21 read in full as follows. 19. A method for use in a computer having a display comprising the steps of displaying on said display a plurality of information fields, identifying for each field a kind of information to be inserted therein, indicating a particular one of said information fields into which information is to be inserted and for concurrently displaying a predefined tool associated with said one of said fields, said predefined tool being operable to supply information of the kind identified for said one field, said tool being selected from a group of predefined tools including a tool adapted to supply an individual entry from a menu of alternatives and at least a tool adapted to allow said user to compose said information, and inserting in said one field information that is derived as a result of said user operating said displayed tool. 21. The method set forth in claim 19 wherein the step of displaying said pattern includes the step of displaying one or more of said information fields as a bit-mapped-graphies field. The '356 patent, col.17 1.27 to col.18 1.22. Figure 5 of the Day patent, shown below, illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which a graphical calculator overlays the form having multiple fields, one of which— “Quantity” (Qty 61) — is highlighted. A. Claim 19 Microsoft’s position was that claim 19 would have been obvious over a 1984 magazine article, Michael Tyler, Touch Screens: Big Deal or No Deal?, Datamation, Jan. 1984, at 146 (“the Datamation article” or “Datamation”). The article describes both the potential benefits and drawbacks of using computer touch screens at a time when computer technology was developing. As Datamation reports, analysts feared that “[t]he combination of these drawbacks and outside influences may doom the touch-sensitive terminal” and that “[e]ven touch technology’s greatest proponents admit that the future is not as bright as it once seemed.” Id. at 154. The Datamation article’s ultimate message was that “[t]ouch-sensitive terminals may be very sexy in the office, but whether they actually stimulate people to use computers is open to doubt.” Id. at 146. Much of the trial testimony, as relating to the FXFE system in the Datamation article, described not what was in the article but what was allegedly prior art for purposes of prior public use or prior invention. The Datamation article’s entire disclosure relied upon by Microsoft on appeal is much more limited, namely one photograph and the following two short paragraphs. The bank is in the process of implementing a two-phase strategy that it feels will accomplish the breakout [technology]. The plan employs Easel workstations programmed in the bank’s London office. Each workstation’s screen is divided roughly in half vertically. Large touch-sensitive boxes at the top of the screen invite the user to declare the current transaction a “buy” or a “sell”; at the bottom, similar boxes let the users deal, service, cancel, log out, or lock out their screens. The right half of the screen lists key information about the current transaction, including buyer bank, seller bank, currency, exchange rate (in dollars and the foreign currency), broker, bank customer, exchange location, and method of payment. When the trader touches the screen in one of these areas, a list of potentially valid entries or a numeric keypad appears on the left half, inviting the user to choose the information needed on the right. For instance, when the user hits the “broker” cell on the right, a list of brokers appears on the left; the trader then hits the name of the broker to be involved in the current trade, and the information is entered into the system. For exchange rates and other numerical data, the user hits the proper cell on the right and then types in the numeric data on the keypad that appears on the left. In this way, an entire transaction can be completed directly on the workstation. (A QWERTY layout can be called up on the left for entry of nonstandard or rare names — an infrequently traded currency, for example.) Datamation, swpra, at 148. During trial, the opposing experts for Microsoft and Lucent expressed conflicting views about the Datamation article’s disclosure. Specifically, the parties and their experts disagreed about whether the Datamation article described three of the limitations of claim 19 and whether a fourth limitation would have been obvious from the article. We address each limitation in turn. First, the experts expressed differing opinions about whether the Datamation article disclosed the limitation of “inserting in said one field information that is derived as a result of said user operating said displayed tool.” The district court construed this term to mean “inserting in a particular field information that is derived as a result of the user operating the displayed tool.” Lucent argues that all the Datamation article states is that the information is entered “into the system.” Microsoft counters that “[t]he article describes how an FXFE user entered (or ‘inserted’) information into what it calls ‘cells,’ another name for ‘information fields.’ ” But Microsoft’s expert was less than direct when asked whether the Datamation disclosed an information field, as required by claim 19: Q: And you told us the article had information fields in it, right? A: The article refers to fields as cells, and I think people understand a cell to be a field. Q: The article doesn’t use the word “information fields,” does it? A: I recall it using fields — using cells to represent fields, and I think what it was describing was a field. Whether it actually used the word “field,” I don’t know. I’d have to look at the article to see if it— Q: The article talked about a broker cell. It didn’t say that the information in the broker cell goes into a field, did it? You know it didn’t use that term, right? A: I don’t know that, but I — you would understand a cell to be a field. It was very clear from the article. Q: I know that you want to say that. What I’m asking you is what is actually in the article. You know as you sit here today that that article does not use the term “information field” in those words, true or false? A: I can’t answer that because I would have to look at it to see if it used field, but when I read that article, it was clear to me what they were discussing was a field, and what’s demonstrated there is a field. Whether they used only cell and not field I’d have to actually look at the article. Q: So can we agree that as you sit here today in the stand you don’t know? A: Well, I’ve read the article, but I haven’t done an analysis on whether the word “field” actually shows up into that — in that article. J.A. 08112-13. Microsoft’s expert seemed to equate the “information field” of claim 19 with the term “cell,” as used in the Datamation article. What the article describes as a “cell,” however, appears to be different from an “information field,” as used in the claim of the Day patent. The article states that “when the user hits the ‘broker’ cell on the right, a list of brokers appears on the left.” Datamation, supra, at 148. In the next stage of the transaction, the user could select from the “list of brokers appear[ing] on the left” and “the trader hits the name of the broker.” Id. This sequence could be viewed as occurring without inserting an entry into an information field. Also, a reasonable jury could have understood “cell” to mean an area on the screen that á user touches to proceed to the next stage in the transaction and not an on-screen box in which entered data is displayed, i.e., an information field. The Day patent requires an information field. It’s entirely possible — and reasonable— for the jury to have concluded that the Datamation article describes a computer system operating as a data input system without the creation of on-screen forms having information fields, as required by claim 19. The photograph shows nothing about whether data is entered into a field and thus displayed on the screen. The photograph does not depict anything resembling an “information field.” A reasonable jury could have concluded that the FXFE system’s process consisted of a user entering data, the system receiving that data, and the system then proceeding to the next operation in the process, without displaying the data in an information field on the screen. For instance, consider a sequence routinely employed by an automated teller machine (ATM). When withdrawing money from one’s checking account (e.g., $50, $100, or $200), a user presses the appropriate on-screen button, the ATM system receives the input, and then the system proceeds to the next decisional operation (e.g., print receipt?). In this sequence, the system never enters and displays the user’s selection into a field on the computer screen. Although the Datamation article possibly describes a system capable of inserting data into an information field, the article itself does not appear to teach that step. Of singular importance here, however, is that the jury could have reasonably viewed the Datamation article as not disclosing the “inserting” step. The second limitation in dispute is the “tool” limitation. Claim 19 requires a “tool adapted to allow said user to compose said information.” The district court interpreted this limitation to mean “a graphical keyboard tool or a graphical number keypad tool, which allows the user to compose information by pointing to the display keys of that tool.” Microsoft again contends that the Datamation article necessarily discloses this “tool” limitation. Reasoning that the keyboard in the Datamation photograph is graphical because it is a “pictorial” image on the screen, Microsoft relies on testimony from an expert, who told the jury, “So when you’re talking about something graphical, you’re talking about a pictorial representation that’s displayed on the computer screen.” This testimony, Microsoft asserts, is evidence sufficient to overturn the jury’s verdict. The jury also heard a different view from Lucent’s expert, who explained the difference between a computer’s “text mode” and “graphics mode.” Lucent’s expert opined that “[tjhere’s no evidence that the FXFE system was anything other than a text-based system.” He further testified as followed: Q: Now, you told us this system is not a graphical system. What did you mean by that? A: This is — this program was written in text mode. Graphics mode on computers of this era was too slow to support productivity applications, which is what this is. So developers uniformly— I mean, there may have been a rare exception, but with the exception of people who needed to work in graphics such as allowing people to draw, these programs were built in text mode. And what text mode means is that the only control a programmer has is to say I want the letter A, I want the number zero, I want an exclamation point, I want an underscore and so forth. And even the microprocessor doesn’t have control. There’s a piece of hardware out there that’s just putting characters on a screen. So it’s text mode, it’s not graphics mode. The 356[Day] patent is all about graphics mode. Q: In fact, the Court’s construction for the composition tool says it has to be a graphical keypad tool. A: That’s correct. Q: And this isn’t even a graphical system. A: No, it’s not. J.A. 08658-59. Microsoft’s own expert seemingly admitted that the Datamation article did not necessarily disclose a system operating in graphics mode: Q: And the article doesn’t tell us that this system operated in graphics mode as we understand that term to mean where you’re addressing information to individual pixels, right? The article doesn’t say that? A: Well, the article does describe that it had a very high resolution, 976 pixels by some other resolution, which indicates to me that it operated in — it could operate in a graphics mode. Q: I’m not asking you if it could. The article does not use the phrase “graphics mode,” does it? A: I don’t think the article describes whether it worked in graphics mode or not. J.A. 08112. Based on this evidence, the jury was within its charge to conclude that the Datamation article did not disclose “a graphical keyboard tool or a graphical number keypad tool.” The third disputed limitation is “concurrently displaying a predefined tool associated with said one of said fields.” The district court’s construction requires this phrase to mean “displaying at the same time, as by a window overlaying the form.” Microsoft contends that “[t]he Datamation article leaves no doubt that the FXFE system’s graphical tools are displayed at the same time as the information fields.” Lucent responds that Microsoft is impermissibly trying to broaden the scope of the claim by eliminating a requirement that the window overlays the form. As noted above, Microsoft did not object to the claim construction read to the jury, and does not appeal the claim construction to us. Based on the claim construction presented, the jury reasonably could have concluded that the Datamation article does not disclose a graphical tool that overlayed the form. Microsoft’s expert conceded that the Datamation article doesn’t describe a tool that overlays a form. Q: The article does not discuss tools overlaying a form, true? A: I don’t think it describes it that way, no. Right. Q: In fact, the keyboard does not overlay the form in the — in the article. It would have been wrong if it described it that way, right? A: Yes, the — as I told you on my direct, the tools were on the left side of the screen. J.A. 08112. From this testimony and the photograph “of limited clarity” in the Datamation article, the jury was permitted to conclude, as a factual matter, that the article did not disclose this limitation. Microsoft offers nothing to fill this gap in its obviousness analysis. Instead, Microsoft argues to us that the jury applied the wrong claim construction requiring an overlayed tool. Microsoft asserts that the claim construction given by the district court mandates only the concurrent, or simultaneous, display of the “predefined tool” and the “one of said fields.” This argument is unpersuasive, however. First, reading the claim construction as Microsoft does would render superfluous the phrase “as by a window overlaying the form.” If the proper claim application were as Microsoft argues it to be, the “as by” phrase is completely unnecessary. Second, as noted, Microsoft does not challenge the claim construction. If Microsoft believed that the proper claim construction does not require the tool to overlay the form, Microsoft should have argued for such a claim construction instead of disputing the jury’s reasonable application of the claim construction as given to the jury. The fourth limitation in dispute is the “indicating” step. Unlike the previous three claim limitations, the parties agree that the Datamation article does not explicitly disclose the limitation of “indicating a particular one of said information fields into which information is to be inserted.” Microsoft’s expert conceded that the Datamation article doesn’t teach this limitation. Moreover, both parties agree that “indicating” includes highlighting the information field or placing a cursor in the information field so the user knows which field “into which information is to be inserted.” According to Microsoft, “failing to indicate which field information is being entered into — that is, having information show up randomly somewhere on the screen— would be contrary to all experience and common sense.” We disagree. In many instances perhaps, it may make sense to highlight a field into which information is entered. But, when examined in the context of the Datamation article’s description, we understand how the jury could conclude otherwise. As noted above, the Datamation article doesn’t explicitly describe the entering of information into onscreen fields. Assuming the article did, it does not necessarily lead one of skill in the art to have a reason to “indicate” the field into which information is entered. The jury could have reasonably viewed the Datamation system as displaying only one onscreen information field. Nothing in the article appears to suggest that the FXFE system displays— or is capable of displaying — multiple information fields at the same time. To the contrary, the system is described as proceeding from the entry of one type of data to the next. See Datamation, swpra, at 148. Having agreed with this description, the jury could have also concluded that an ordinarily skilled artisan would not have had a reason to “indicate” the. only field on the computer screen. If there is only one field displayed on the screen, the user knows that any data will be entered into that single field. Specifying the only field by highlighting would not have helped the user in any way, or at least a jury could have so concluded, based on the evidence adduced at trial. Having examined the four contested claim limitations, the jury would have been within its reasonable boundaries in finding the Datamation article to be lacking at least one of the limitations and in concluding that no sufficient reason existed to modify the prior art. When the underlying facts are taken in the light most favorable to Lucent, the non-moving party, the evidence reasonably permitted the jury to have decided that Microsoft did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that claim 19 would have been obvious. Accordingly, the district court did not err when it denied Microsoft’s motion for judgment as a matter of law concerning the validity of claim 19. B. Claim 21 Microsoft’s invalidity position for claim 21 fares no better. Claim 21 requires that “the step of displaying said pattern includes the step of displaying one or more of said information fields as a bit-mapped-graphics field.” The district court construed “bit-mapped graphics field” to refer to “a field into which a user is to enter information by writing on a touch sensitive screen using a stylus.” Microsoft argues that claim 21 would have been obvious in light of Datamation alone, contending that the article “describes FXFE’s touch sensitive screen as able to ‘accept a finger, a pen, or any other device.’ ” The Datamation article, under Microsoft’s reading, “inherently disclos[es] the ability to enter information by writing on the screen with a stylus.” What Microsoft misapprehends is that the disclosed FXFE system can accept the touch of a pen or any other device. The Datamation article does not teach a computer system that can accept “information by writing on a touch sensitive screen using a stylus.” Microsoft also asserts that claim 21 would have been obvious over Datamation in view of other prior art teaching the process of capturing on-screen handwriting. This argument is not sufficient to overturn the jury’s verdict. Nothing in the Datamation article itself discloses a reason why on-screen handwriting, e.g., by writing with a stylus, could or should be used with the FXFE system. Rather, much of the Datamation article appears to teach away from the inclusion of “a field into which a user is to enter information by writing on a touch sensitive screen using a stylus.” The Datamation article quotes the Chemical Bank executive responsible for implementing the FXFE system as describing deficiencies with electronic pens: “We tried electronic pens, tablets, voice input, you name it. But the tablets demand too much precision on the part of the trader....” Datamation, supra, at 148. The article also details the need for fast and efficient entry of trades, describing traders who “handle 1,000 trades a day, and often deal so quickly that they cannot write down all their trades on separate slips of paper.” Id. at 146. From this description, it’s understandable how the jury could have concluded that a skilled artisan would not have had a reason to combine the Easel system with a slower means of inputting information such as “writing on a touch sensitive screen using a stylus.” For these reasons, the district court did not err in denying Microsoft’s motion for JMOL that claim 21 would have been obvious. III. Infringement The jury found indirect infringement by Microsoft. Claims 19 and 21 are method claims; thus, Microsoft’s sales of its software alone cannot infringe the patent. Infringement occurs only when someone performs the method using a computer running the necessary software. Thus, Microsoft can only be liable for infringement of claims 19 and 21 as a contributor and/or an inducer. Microsoft makes the following arguments concerning indirect infringement. First, Lucent didn’t prove direct infringement, a necessary predicate for proving indirect infringement. Second, Lucent didn’t prove contributory infringement because the products have substantial noninfringing uses. Third, Lucent can’t prove inducement because the products are merely capable of inducing and Microsoft wasn’t shown to have the requisite intent to induce. We address each argument in turn. A. Direct Infringement To infringe a method claim, a person must have practiced all steps of the claimed method. See Joy Techs., Inc. v. Flakt, Inc., 6 F.3d 770, 775 (Fed.Cir.1993) (“A method claim is directly infringed only by one practicing the patented method.”); see also 35 U.S.C. § 271 (2006). Just as anticipation can be found by a single prior art use, a finding of infringement can rest on as little as one instance of the claimed method being performed during the pertinent time period. Lucent asserts that certain features of Outlook, Money, and Windows Mobile, when used, practice the methods of claims 19 and 21. For instance, Outlook includes a calendar tool that allows the user to enter dates in a form when preparing a record of an appointment. The tool displays a monthly calendar as a grid of numbered dates, along with graphical controls that allow the user to scroll to adjacent months or skip directly to a different month and year. Once the user defines a date with the tool, the software enters the numerical day, month, and year into the corresponding field in the appointment form. Similar to the number pad tool illustrated in the Day patent, Outlook’s calendar date-picker tool enables the user to select a series of numbers, corresponding to the day, month, and year, using graphical controls. This date-picker calendar tool is incorporated in a few of Outlook’s features. Microsoft Money and Windows Mobile have similar functionalities. According to Microsoft, Lucent failed to introduce any evidence that any customer actually used the claimed method in any of the Microsoft products. Noting that “each accused product has numerous uses that do not involve forms with onscreen composition tools” and that “the specific narrow function of the patented method — -filling in a form — can be performed without using the asserted ‘composition tool’ features,” Microsoft urges that “infringement is not inevitable.” The only evidence of direct infringement, in Microsoft’s view, is the testimony of Lucent’s expert. We agree with Microsoft that there was little, if any, direct evidence of infringement. Lucent’s expert testified on cross-examination as follows: Q: And you didn’t provide any evidence of anybody, any of Dell’s customers, for example, who actually performed all of the steps of the claims, right? A: Well, I can confess here and now that as a Dell customer, I did perform all steps of this claim many, many times, Q: When did you do it? A: Oh, back in — we’ve had Quicken on our Windows machines since around '98 or '99. So I’ve used that particular piece of software extensively using these tools. Q: These gentlemen sitting over here may want to talk to you after you get off the stand. A: I’m afraid they may. Q: But you didn’t produce any evidence to this jury that anybody other than Lucent’s trial team and its witnesses who actually performed every single step of the claim, is that fair? A: Again, my wife performed them all, so— J.A. 07517. As is evident, Microsoft correctly points out that Lucent’s direct evidence of infringement was limited. If that were the only evidence of performing the claimed method, we would likely have to reverse. Nevertheless, circumstantial evidence was just adequate to permit a jury to find that at least one other person within the United States during the relevant time period, other than the expert, had performed the claimed method. Lucent’s expert testified that “[fit’s hard to imagine that we’re the only two people in the world that ever used it.” J.A. 07517. As Lucent notes “Microsoft not only designed the accused products to practice the claimed invention, but also instructed its customers to use the accused products in an infringing way.” An informative case is Moleculon Research Corp. v. CBS, Inc., 793 F.2d 1261 (Fed.Cir.1986), in which we affirmed a district court’s finding of direct infringement based on circumstantial evidence. In Moleculon, the district court held that the patentee “had met its burden of showing infringement under section 271(b) with circumstantial evidence of extensive puzzle sales, dissemination of an instruction sheet teaching the method of restoring the preselected pattern with each puzzle, and the availability of a solution booklet on how to solve the puzzle.” Id. at 1272. Similarly, in the present case, the jury reviewed evidence relating to the extensive sales of Microsoft products and the dissemination of instruction manuals for the Microsoft products. The jury also heard corresponding testimony from Lucent’s infringement expert. The circumstantial documentary evidence, supplementing the experts’ testimony, was just barely sufficient to permit the jury to find direct infringement by a preponderance of the evidence. As in Moleculon, the jury in the present case could have reasonably concluded that, sometime during the relevant period from 2003 to 2006, more likely than not one person somewhere in the United States had performed the claimed method using the Microsoft products. See Moleculon, 793 F.2d at 1272 (“It is hornbook law that direct evidence of a fact is not necessary. ‘Circumstantial evidence is not only sufficient, but may also be more certain, satisfying and persuasive than direct evidence.’ ” (quoting Michalic v. Cleveland Tankers, Inc., 364 U.S. 325, 330, 81 S.Ct. 6, 5 L.Ed.2d 20 (1960))); see also Alco Standard Corp. v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 808 F.2d 1490, 1503 (Fed.Cir.1986) (“Although the evidence of infringement is circumstantial, that does not make it any less credible or persuasive.”). In challenging the jury’s verdict, Microsoft contends that two cases control our review: ACCO Brands, Inc. v. ABA Locks Manufacturer Co., 501 F.3d 1307 (Fed.Cir. 2007), and E-Pass Technologies, Inc. v. 3Com Corp., 473 F.3d 1213 (Fed.Cir.2007). Although similar, these precedents differ enough from the facts of the present case, thus allowing the jury’s verdict to stand. In ACCO Brands, we held that a jury’s finding of induced infringement was not supported by substantial evidence. 501 F.3d at 1314. ACCO, the patentee, relied only on its expert’s testimony that the “natural and intuitive way to employ” the accused product, a computer lock, was in an infringing mode. Id. at 1312. Importantly, however, ACCO’s expert “had no opinion” on the issue of “whether users other than himself used the lock in the infringing manner.” Id. at 1313. Furthermore, the locks were sold not only without instructions teaching the infringing method, but with instructions teaching the non-infringing use. Id. The jury also had no evidence suggesting that the U.S. distributor of the locks was aware of any infringing instructions. Id. In a similar vein, E-Pass does not compel the overturning of the jury’s verdict. There, the patentee tried to rely on “excerpts from the product manuals for various of the accused devices.” 473 F.3d at 1222. All the court had before it, however, was evidence “showfing], at best, that the Palm defendants taught their customers each step of the claimed method in isolation.” Id. Thus, in both ACCO Brands and E-Pass, the patentees failed to introduce even circumstantial evidence of infringing acts. Microsoft also misreads our holding in Ball Aerosol & Specialty Container, Inc. v. Limited Brands, Inc., 555 F.3d 984 (Fed. Cir.2009). There, we reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment of infringement of a patent claiming a candle tin with a removable cover that also acts as a base for the candle holder. The issue in Ball Aerosol was one of claim construction rather than whether circumstantial evidence proved infringement. The patentee argued that “an apparatus patent claim with functional elements is infringed if the accused product is reasonably capable of being used without substantial modification-in the manner recited in the claim.” Id. at 994. The patentee conceded that there was “no proof that the Travel Candle was ever placed in the infringing configuration.” Id. at 995. Without doubt, Lucent would have been on much firmer ground had it introduced some direct evidence of using the claimed method. Nevertheless, Lucent’s circumstantial evidence of infringement was “something less than the weight of the evidence,” Consolo v. Fed. Maritime Comm’n, 383 U.S. 607, 620, 86 S.Ct. 1018, 16 L.Ed.2d 131 (1966), yet it was just “more than a mere scintilla,” Consol. Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938). Accordingly and for these reasons, we are not convinced that the district court erred in denying Microsoft’s JMOL motion with respect to infringement. For similar reasons, substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding as it relates to direct infringement by the use of Microsoft Money and Windows Mobile. Microsoft also complains that the infringement finding was erroneous because Microsoft Outlook does not contain a “composition tool.” This argument likewise fails. A Lucent expert, Mr. Bruce Tognazzini, testified that the calendar tool in Outlook works by combining information to compose a complete date. He further explained that a composition tool is one that has “the ability to combine” information. A Microsoft expert, Mr. Dale Buscaino, appeared to concede this point as well, admitting that “a composition tool allows a user to put together parts.” Although most of Microsoft’s expert testimony disputed whether Outlook contained a composition tool, that testimony was insufficient to require a reasonable jury to find as a factual matter only noninfringement. B. Contributory Infringement Under 35 U.S.C. § 271(c), a party is liable for infringement if he “offers to sell or sells within the United States or imports into the United States ... a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process, constituting a material part of the invention, knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an infringement of such patent, and not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use.” “In order to succeed on a claim of contributory infringement, in addition to proving an act of direct infringement, plaintiff must show that defendant ‘knew that the combination for which its components were especially made was both patented and infringing’ and that defendant’s components have ‘no substantial non-infringing uses.’ ” Cross Med. Prods., Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc., 424 F.3d 1293, 1312 (Fed.Cir.2005) (quoting Golden Blount, Inc. v. Robert H. Peterson Co., 365 F.3d 1054, 1061 (Fed.Cir. 2004)). According to Microsoft, Lucent did not prove contributory infringement because the products have substantial non-infringing uses. Lucent counters that the date-picker tool does not have any noninfringing uses. Thus, as framed by the parties, the main issue reduces to whether the “material or apparatus” is the entire software package or just the particular tool (e.g., the calendar date-picker) that performs the claimed method. If the former, then Microsoft prevails because the entire software package has substantial noninfringing uses. If the material or apparatus is the specific date-picker tool, then Lucent wins because that tool was “especially made or especially adapted for” practicing the claimed method. One example illustrates the problem with Microsoft’s approach. Consider a software program comprising five — and only five — features. Each of the five features is separately and distinctly patented using a method claim. That is, the first feature infringes a method claim in a first patent, the second feature infringes a method claim in a second patent, and so forth. Assume also that the company selling the software doesn’t provide specific instructions on how to use the five features, thus taking potential liability outside the realm of § 271(b). In this scenario, under Microsoft’s position, the software seller can never be liable for contributory infringement of any one of the method patents because the entire software program is capable of substantial noninfringing use. This seems both untenable as a practical outcome and inconsistent with both the statute and governing precedent. Similarly, if, instead of selling Outlook with the date-picker, Microsoft had offered the date-picker for sale as a separate download to be used with Outlook, there would be little dispute that Microsoft was contributing to infringement of the Day patent. As we explained in Ricoh Co. v. Quanta Computer Inc., 550 F.3d 1325, 1337 (Fed.Cir.2008), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 2864, 174 L.Ed.2d 578 (2009), an infringer “should not be permitted to escape liability as a contributory infringer merely by embedding [the infringing apparatus] in a larger product with some additional, separable feature before importing and selling it.” Microsoft puts much reliance on Hodosh v. Block Drug Co., 833 F.2d 1575 (Fed.Cir. 1987). Microsoft understands Hodosh to require “a focus on the product actually sold, not on a mere ingredient.” Under this view, Microsoft didn’t contribute to infringement because “[e]aeh accused product had substantial noninfringing uses.” Instead, according to Microsoft, the district court “eviscerate[d] Hodosh and read[] ‘substantial noninfringing use’ out of the statute.” But our court has previously rejected the interpretation of Hodosh urged by Microsoft on appeal: [T]his reading of Hodosh divorces the court’s holding from the facts upon which it was rendered. In focusing on “what was actually sold,” the Hodosh court rejected the argument that an otherwise infringing product may automatically escape liability merely because it contains a noninfringing staple ingredient____It does not follow from Hodosh that the inclusion of a component with substantial noninfringing uses in a product that contains other components useful only to infringe a process patent can or should defeat liability for contributory infringement under § 271(c). Ricoh, 550 F.3d at 1339-40. More importantly, Microsoft fails to appreciate the factual basis for Hodosh’s holding. In Hodosh, the patent at issue claimed “a method for desensitizing teeth with a composition containing an alkali metal nitrate.” 833 F.2d at 1576. The accused infringer sold toothpaste, e.g., “Sensodyne-F,” containing potassium nitrate, an alkali metal nitrate. Id.; see also Hodosh v. Block Drug Co., 786 F.2d 1136, 1137 (Fed.Cir.1986). The accused infringer argued that the sale of the toothpaste, which itself was not patented, could not constitute contributory infringement because the toothpaste contained a staple article, i.e., potassium nitrate. Hodosh, 833 F.2d at 1578. The court rejected this argument. While potassium nitrate, when sold in bulk form, was “a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use,” it was suitable only for the infringing use when sold as an ingredient in the toothpaste specially made to perform the patented method of desensitizing teeth. Here, the infringing feature for completing the forms, i.e., the date-picker tool, is suitable only for an infringing use. Inclusion of the date-picker feature within a larger program does not change the date-picker’s ability to infringe. Because Microsoft included the date-picker tool in Outlook, the jury could reasonably conclude, based on the evidence presented, that Microsoft intended computer users to use the tool — perhaps not frequently — and the only intended use of the tool infringed the Day patent. See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913, 932, 125 S.Ct. 2764, 162 L.Ed.2d 781 (2005) (explaining that the contributory infringement doctrine “was devised to identify instances in which it may be presumed from distribution of an article in commerce that the distributor intended the article to be used to infringe another’s patent, and so may justly be held liable for that infringement”). Finally, Microsoft contends that § 271(c) is not applicable here. Relying solely on Microsoft Corp. v. AT & T Corp., 550 U.S. 437, 127 S.Ct. 1746, 167 L.Ed.2d 737 (2007), without further analysis, Microsoft contends that its “products are not a ‘material or apparatus’ as the statute requires for contributory infringement of patented methods.” We need only respond that the Supreme Court in Microsoft did not address the meaning of “material or apparatus” in § 271(c). C. Inducing Infringement A party who “actively induces infringement of a patent shall be liable as an infringer.” 35 U.S.C. § 271(b). Under this provision, “[t]he plaintiff has the burden of showing that the alleged infringer’s actions induced infringing acts and that he knew or should have known his actions would induce actual infringements.” Manville Sales Corp. v. Paramount Sys., Inc., 917 F.2d 544, 553 (Fed.Cir.1990), quoted in DSU Med. Corp. v. JMS Co., 471 F.3d 1293, 1306 (Fed.Cir.2006) (en banc in relevant part). “[A] finding of inducement requires a threshold finding of direct infringement — either a finding of specific instances of direct infringement or a finding that the accused products necessarily infringe.” Ricoh, 550 F.3d at 1341 (citing ACCO Brands, 501 F.3d at 1313). “[I]nducement requires evidence of culpable conduct, directed to encouraging another’s infringement, not merely that the inducer had knowledge of the direct infringer’s activities.” DSU Med., 471 F.3d at' 1306. A plaintiff may still prove the intent element through circumstantial evidence, just as with direct infringement, as discussed above. See id.; see also Fuji Photo Film Co. v. Jazz Photo Corp., 394 F.3d 1368, 1377 (Fed.Cir.2005) (“A patentee may prove intent through circumstantial evidence.”); Water Techs. Corp. v. Calco, Ltd., 850 F.2d 660, 668 (Fed.Cir. 1988) (“While proof of intent is necessary, direct evidence is not required; rather, circumstantial evidence may suffice.”). Evidence of active steps taken to induce infringement, such as advertising an infringing use, can support a finding of an intention for the product to be used in an infringing manner. DSU Med., 471 F.3d at 1305 (citing Grokster, 545 U.S. at 932, 125 S.Ct. 2764). Microsoft argues that Lucent can’t prove inducement because the software products are merely capable of infringing and the evidence didn’t show the requisite intent to induce. As Microsoft sees it, “all Lucent has shown is that ‘hypothetical direct infringement’ might result if users choose particular options in each accused product.” Relying on DSU Medical and Kyocera Wireless Corp. v. International Trade Commission, 545 F.3d 1340 (Fed.Cir.2008), Microsoft contends that Lucent presented only the same circumstantial evidence regarding the alleged possibility of using the accused products to infringe — marketing materials and help files — as evidence of intent to induce infringement of the Day patent. With regard to Outlook, for example, Lucent relied on materials generally describing Outlook’s use of forms and its calendar feature. No evidence showed that Microsoft encouraged use of the date-picker or even mentioned the date-picker specifically. With regard to Money, the evidence showed that Microsoft encouraged customers to enter information by downloading it from the Internet, which avoids manually filling out the transaction form. And for Windows Mobile, Lucent presented evidence of general instructions on how to use the product and statements promoting its general use of forms and ease of use. None of these materials induces customers to use a composition tool to fill out a computer-based form. Appellant Br. 52 (citations omitted). Lucent responds, asserting that “Microsoft both encouraged others to commit infringing acts and knew or should have known that its conduct would result in direct infringement.” Lucent cites its expert’s testimony as supporting the jury’s finding that “the infringing pop-up tool functionality is pervasive in the accused products; that the normal and intended operation of those products used the infringing functionality; and that Microsoft encouraged and intended users to infringe.” Lucent also argues that the evidence “established that onscreen pop-up tools are critical to the functionality of the accused products,” and that “Microsoft provided instruction, tutorials, and other materials directing users to operate the accused products in an infringing manner.” Having perused the evidence, we agree with Microsoft that the evidence is not strong, but we are not persuaded that the jury was unreasonable in finding that Microsoft possessed the requisite intent to induce at least one user of its products to infringe the claimed methods. With respect to inducing infringement with Outlook, Lucent points to the following testimony of its expert. Q: Does Microsoft intend users to use the forms and the different tools that we just looked at? A: Yes, definitely. It would be — you’d be unable to use the application and avoid forms. Q: So would you say then the form entry and the predefined tools of Microsoft Outlook form a material part of the limitations of claim 19 of the Day patent? A: Yes. Q: And the Outlook is specifically designed to use these forms and these predefined tools? A: Yes, it is. Q: Does Microsoft know that Outlook was designed to perform in that fashion? A: Yes. Again, they designed it. So they know they designed it to do that. J.A. 07441-42. At one point, Lucent’s infringement expert explained, on cross-examination, how certain Microsoft documentation encouraged users to use the infringing tool. Q: Okay. Let’s look at [the document]. Access shared team calendars in Outlook 2003. View multiple calendars side by side to make scheduling meetings fast and more convenient. A: Right. Q: Is it the part about scheduling meetings— A: That’s correct. Q: — that you now say is encouraging this method of Claim 19? A: Well, yeah. You schedule meetings using this appointment form. J.A. 07510. Additional circumstantial evidence lends further, albeit limited, support for the jury’s factual finding of intent. And our review reveals slightly stronger circumstantial evidence of intent concerning Windows Mobile and Microsoft Money. For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s denial of Microsoft’s motion for JMOL that Microsoft did not induce infringement of the Day patent. IV. Damages Based on the evidence of record, Microsoft (and Dell) sold approximately 110 million units of the three software products capable of practicing the methods of the asserted claims. The total dollar value of the sales was approximately $8 billion. At trial, Lucent’s theory of damages was based on 8% of sales revenue for the accused software products, and it asked the jury to award $561.9 million based on Microsoft’s infringing sales. Microsoft countered that a lump-sum payment of $6.5 million would have been the correct amount for licensing the protected technology. See Lucent Techs., 580 F.Supp.2d at 1042 & n. 7. Microsoft challenges the jury’s damages award on several bases. First, Microsoft argues that the jury should not have applied the entire market value rule to the value of its three software products. Microsoft’s second argument for reversing the damages award is that, for method claims, Dynacore Holdings Corp. v. U.S. Philips Corp., 363 F.3d 1263 (Fed.Cir. 2004), requires that damages be limited to the proven number of instances of actual infringing use. Microsoft states that, “[u]nder Dynacore, Lucent had to tie its damages claim to demonstrated instances of direct infringement.” For the reasons stated below, we reject both arguments as presented by Microsoft. We agree, nevertheless, with Microsoft’s argument that substantial evidence does not support the jury’s verdict of a lump-sum royalty payment of $357,693,056.18. Further, to the extent the jury relied on an entire market value calculation to arrive at the lump-sum damages amount, that award is not supported by substantial evidence and is against the clear weight of the evidence. A. Reasonable Royalty “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.” 35 U.S.C. § 284. As the Supreme Court has framed the general issue of determining damages, at least for competitors, a court must ask, “[H]ad the Infringer not infringed, what would [the] Patent Holder[ ] have made?” Aro Mfg. Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co., 377 U.S. 476, 507, 84 S.Ct. 1526, 12 L.Ed.2d 457 (1964); see also Pall Corp. v. Micron Separations, Inc., 66 F.3d 1211, 1223 (Fed.Cir.1995) (“[T]he purpose of compensatory damages is not to punish the infringer, but to make the patentee whole.”). In the Supreme Court’s words, awarding damages through litigation attempts to assess “the difference between [the patentee’s] pecuniary condition after the infringement, and what his condition would have been if the infringement had not occurred.” Yale Lock Mfg. Co. v. Sargent, 117 U.S. 536, 552, 6 S.Ct. 934, 29 L.Ed. 954 (1886). The burden of proving damages falls on the patentee. Dow Chem. Co. v. Mee Indus., Inc., 341 F.3d 1370, 1381 (Fed.Cir.2003); Kearns v. Chrysler Corp., 32 F.3d 1541, 1551 (Fed.Cir.1994). Two alternative categories of infringement compensation are the patentee’s lost profits and the reasonable royalty he would have received through arms-length bargaining. See Panduit Corp. v. Stahlin Bros. Fibre Works, Inc., 575 F.2d 1152, 1157 (6th Cir. 1978) (Markey, J.). Lost profits are not at issue in the present case. A reasonable royalty is, of course, “merely the floor below which damages shall not fall.” Bandag, Inc. v. Gerrard Tire Co., 704 F.2d 1578, 1583 (Fed.Cir.1983). Litigants routinely adopt several approaches for calculating a reasonable royalty. The first, the analytical method, focuses on the infringer’s projections of profit for the infringing product. See TWM Mfg. Co. v. Dura Corp., 789 F.2d 895, 899 (Fed.Cir.1986) (describing the analytical method as “subtracting] the infringer’s usual or acceptable net profit from its anticipated net profit realized from sales of infringing devices”); see also John Skenyon et al, Patent Damages Law & Practice § 3:4, at 3-9 to 3-10 (2008) (describing the analytical method as “calculating damages based on the infringer’s own internal profit projections for the infringing item at the time the infringement began, and then apportioning the projected profits between the patent owner and the infringer”). The second, more common approach, called the hypothetical negotiation or the “willing licensor-willing licensee” approach, attempts to ascertain the royalty upon which the parties would have agreed had they successfully negotiated an agreement just before infringement began. See Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. U.S. Plywood Corp., 318 F.Supp. 1116, 1120 (S.D.N.Y.1970); see also Rite-Hite Corp. v. Kelley Co., 56 F.3d 1538, 1554 n. 13 (Fed.Cir.1995) (en banc); Radio Steel & Mfg. Co. v. MTD Prods., Inc., 788 F.2d 1554, 1557 (Fed.Cir.1986) (“The determination of a reasonable royalty, however, is based not on the infringer’s profit, but on the royalty to which a willing licensor and a willing licensee would have agreed at the time the infringement began.”); Panduit, 575 F.2d at 1159 (“Among the relevant facts are: what plaintiffs property was, to what extent defendant has taken it, its usefulness and commercial value as shown by its advantages over other things and by the extent of its use, and the commercial situation.” (citations and quotation marks omitted)). The hypothetical negotiation tries, as best as possible, to recreate the ex ante licensing negotiation scenario and to describe the resulting agreement. In other words, if infringement had not occurred, willing parties would have executed a license agreement specifying a certain royalty payment scheme. The hypothetical negotiation also assumes that the asserted patent claims are valid and infringed. In the present appeal, the parties, in offering the damages evidence, each adopted the hypothetical negotiation approach, without objection. Both Microsoft and Lucent must therefore accept that any reasonable royalty analysis “necessarily involves an element of approximation and uncertainty.” Unisplay, 69 F.3d at 517. We review the damages award within the Georgia-Pacific framework. Before the district court, Lucent asked for a damages award based only on a running royalty. Microsoft, on the other hand, told the jury that the damages should be a lump-sum royalty payment of $6.5 million. Based on the verdict form, the jury decided on a lump-sum award, not a running royalty. The verdict form notes a lump-sum damages amount and no amount (i.e., zero or “N/A”) on the lines for a running royalty. Faced with the jury’s selection, our task is to determine whether substantial evidence supports a lump-sum, paid-in-full royalty of approximately $358 million for Microsoft’s indirect infringement of the Day patent. To do this, we must decide whether substantial evidence supports the jury’s implicit finding that Micros