Federal jury finds Smartflash patents valid
TYLER, Texas – A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has awarded Tyler, Texas-based Smartflash LLC a $532.9 million verdict after finding that technology giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) infringed a series of Smartflash patents in order to produce and sell Apple’s popular iTunes software.
The trial focused on three Smartflash patents covering devices and methods for storing data and providing access to that data through electronic payment systems. Smartflash claimed that Apple used the three patents – U.S. Patent No. 7,334,720; No. 8,118,221; and No. 8,336,772 – without permission in iTunes software. The jury found that Apple’s infringement was willful.
Smartflash was represented by lead counsel from Dallas’ Caldwell Cassady & Curry, including attorneys Bradley Caldwell, Jason Cassady and J. Austin Curry. Co-counsel for Smartflash included attorneys Johnny Ward, Claire Abernathy Henry, Wesley Hill and T. John Ward of Longview, Texas-based Ward & Smith. Mr. Caldwell presented opening arguments on behalf of Smartflash and conducted the closing arguments with Johnny Ward.
In addition to awarding a sizable verdict, jurors also found all three contested Smartflash patents to be valid. The verdict represents a small percentage of the $18 billion in iTunes sales reported by Apple last year alone. The case is Smartflash LLC, et al. v. Apple Inc., No. 6:13-CV-447.
Dallas-based Caldwell Cassady & Curry is a firm of trial lawyers who focus on high-stakes litigation. The firm’s practice is concentrated on patent infringement and commercial litigation. Attorneys at Caldwell Cassady & Curry have won some of the most substantial verdicts in the nation during the past decade against several of the world’s largest companies.
Longview, Texas-based Ward & Smith, has tried more than 350 cases to verdict, earning a national reputation in high-stakes claims involving complex commercial litigation, intellectual property law, oil and gas matters, bad faith insurance claims, and serious personal injury claims. The firm frequently assists lawyers nationwide in complex cases before Texas juries.
