McKool Smith Secures $368M Verdict
By Lawdragon News | November 7, 2012 | Press Releases
TYLER, Texas (Nov. 6, 2012) -- McKool Smith has secured a $368 million patent infringement verdict on behalf of Scotts Valley, Calif.-based VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSE Amex: VHC) against Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). The verdict was handed down today after a five day jury trial before Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas-Tyler Division. Jurors awarded $368 million to VirnetX in finding that Apple infringed two of the company’s patents, U.S. Patent No. 6,502,135 and No. 7,490,151. The ‘135 patent covers a method of transparently creating a virtual private network (VPN) between a client computer and a target computer. The ‘151 patent covers a method for solving DNS (domain name systems) security issues.
The McKool Smith trial team representing VirnetX included firm principals Douglas A. Cawley, Sam Baxter, Brad Caldwell, Rosemary Snider, and Trent Campione, senior counsel Ramzi Khazen, and associates Jason Cassady, Austin Curry; Seth Hasenour, Daniel Pearson, Stacie Greskowiak, Mitchell Sibley and Ryan Hargrave. VirnetX also was represented by co-counsel from Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth.
“This verdict affirms our position that Apple has infringed both the VirnetX ‘135 and ‘151 patents,” said Douglas A. Cawley, who served as lead counsel for VirnetX. "We are very pleased with the jury's decision."
In March 2010, McKool Smith secured a $105.75 million patent infringement verdict for VirnetX against Microsoft. In that case, the jurors found that Microsoft willfully infringed two VirnetX patents, U.S. Patent No. 6,502,135 and No. 7,188,180. The verdict was named one of the “Top 100 Verdicts” of 2010 by the National Law Journal and VerdictSearch.
With more than 175 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC, McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. The firm has won more National Law Journal and VerdictSearch “Top 100 Verdicts” over the last five years than any other law firm. McKool Smith represents leading clients across a broad range of practice areas, including complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense.
