The Fifth Circuit affirmed an Eastern District of Texas jury verdict for the defense, finding that Ericsson offered plaintiff handset maker HTC fair terms on licenses for standard-essential patents covering cellular technology. The panel rejected HTC’s argument that the jury was not properly instructed on “apportionment” – the separating of a patent’s value from the value of a product’s other features. The EDTX case was the nation’s first-ever trial over fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms in calculating patent royalties. The McKool Smith team representing longtime firm client Ericsson includes Sam Baxter, Warren Lipschitz, Nicholas Mathews, and Blake Bailey.
The appellate case is HTC Corp. et al. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM et al., case number 19-40643, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The original case is HTC Corporation et al. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson et al., case number 6:18-cv-00243-JRG, in the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler.
With 135 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 13 nine-figure jury verdicts and 15 eight-figure jury verdicts, obtaining more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal “Top 100 Verdicts” than any other law firm in the country. These courtroom successes have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, insurance recovery, and white collar defense matters.