Eastern District of Texas jury clears AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Ericsson and Nokia, invalidates all nine asserted claims, and finds the plaintiffs breached their FRAND licensing obligations
McKool Smith won a complete defense verdict for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Ericsson and Nokia in a consolidated patent case brought by ASUS Technology Licensing, Innovative Sonic, Celerity IP and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Trial began August 14 before Judge Rodney Gilstrap. Today the jury unanimously rejected every claim the plaintiffs brought and awarded nothing on the $436 million they sought.
The jury found that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile did not infringe any of the nine asserted claims across the three patents-in-suit, and that all nine claims are invalid. It also found that the carriers, Ericsson and Nokia had negotiated in good faith, while the plaintiffs and ASUSTeK breached their own obligation to offer a license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
The plaintiffs sued the carriers in 2023, accusing them of infringement through their use of Ericsson and Nokia mobile network equipment. Ericsson and Nokia intervened to defend their products and their customers.
The three patents-in-suit were U.S. Patent No. 10,798,754, directed to QoS flow serving; U.S. Patent No. 10,951,359, directed to control resource set configuration; and U.S. Patent No. 9,560,559, directed to small cell enhancements.
Judge Gilstrap entered final judgment the same day. The plaintiffs take nothing, the defendants are the prevailing party and recover their costs, and the consolidated case is closed.
The verdict extends a run of defense wins for McKool Smith in the Eastern District of Texas. The firm won a defense verdict for T-Mobile against Daingean Technologies in July 2025, where the plaintiff had sought $245 million, and a second verdict against the same plaintiff for AT&T two months later.
The case is ASUS Technology Licensing Inc. et al. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, et al., case number 2:23-cv-00486-JRG-RSP, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.
Along with lead counsel Nick Mathews and Warren Lipschitz, the McKool Smith team included firm Principals , Erik Fountain, Matt Cameron, Eliza Beeney, Kevin Hess, Eric Hansen, Blake Bailey, John Briody, Jonathan Powers, and Associates Clare Churchman, Sam Moore, Chris Leone, Jamie Levien, Joseph Micheli, and Arden Seavers. Co-counsel included Deron Dacus.
With more than 130 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America's leading trial firms. The firm has secured 18 nine-figure jury verdicts and 16 eight-figure jury verdicts, obtaining more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal “Top 100 Verdicts” than any other law firm. McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, insurance recovery, and white-collar defense matters.
