Mintz Patent Litigation Team Wins Two-Week Jury Trial for Electronic Components Maker
Key Facts
- A direct competitor filed two patent infringement lawsuits against our client, a manufacturer of passive electronic components for ultra-broadband applications, in the competitor’s home court in California
- Mintz sued the competitor for patent infringement in our client’s home court in New York
- After a two-week jury trial in the New York case, the jury found infringement of both of our clients’ asserted patents
- Post-trial, our clients achieved a global settlement, bringing the parties’ decade-long dispute to a successful end
The Situation
A direct competitor in the market for passive electronic components for ultra-broadband applications sued our client American Technical Ceramics Corp. (ATC) for patent infringement in California. The suit threatened to disrupt ATC’s planned acquisition by AVX Corporation (AVX), a leading global manufacturer of electronic components. Mintz defended ATC in the action, and ATC was acquired by AVX.
The competitor then sued ATC again in California, this time focusing its infringement claims on new products that ATC and AVX had jointly developed post-acquisition. At the request of our clients ATC and AVX, we sued the competitor for patent infringement in the Eastern District of New York.
The Approach
As part of its defense strategy, the competitor petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of our clients’ patents, which the Mintz team successfully defended. Following completion of the IPRs, the district court suit proceeded through full fact discovery, expert discovery, two Markman proceedings, summary judgment motions, and pre-trial proceedings — including in limine and Daubert motions — culminating in a 10-day jury trial.
The Outcome
Following closing statements in the 10-day trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict the same day, finding infringement of both asserted patents. The court upheld the infringement verdict in an order that followed extensive post-trial briefing. The parties subsequently agreed to globally settle all outstanding disputes.
