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`Gilstrap Holds Top Spot For Pandemic-Era Jury Patent Trials - Law360
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`Gilstrap Holds Top Spot For Pandemic-Era Jury Patent Trials
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`By Tiffany Hu
`Law360 (October 26, 2021, 6:28 PM EDT) -- Texas has seen the most patent jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Eastern District of Texas Judge
`Rodney Gilstrap holding the most trials since August of last year, according to a new report by Baker Botts LLP.
`
`Of the 18 patent jury trials that took place in the Eastern District of Texas from August 2020 to September 2021, Judge Gilstrap handled 16 of those trials,
`including one that resulted in a $506 million verdict against Apple over Optis Wireless' standard-essential 4G wireless patents, according to the Oct. 22
`report. Judge Gilstrap later overturned the jury's calculation of damages and granted Apple a new damages trial, and a new jury returned a $300 million
`verdict against Apple in August.
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`But the largest award that has come out of patent jury trials so far is from Western District of Texas Judge Alan Albright's courtroom. In March, jurors issued
`a $2.18 billion verdict against Intel for infringing two computer chip patents owned by VLSI Technology LLC. The report also notes that Judge Albright
`handled the second-most patent jury trials during this period, overseeing all six of the patent jury trials in the Western District of Texas since August 2020.
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`Many of the larger verdicts seemed to have been awarded when courts were beginning to engage in patent jury trials again, Baker Botts intellectual property
`litigation co-chair Doug Kubehl, who co-authored the report with senior associate Lindsay Volpenhein Cutié and associate Fred Carbone, told Law360 on
`Tuesday.
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`Click to view interactive version
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`https://www.law360.com/articles/1434133/print?section=delaware
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`Gilstrap Holds Top Spot For Pandemic-Era Jury Patent Trials - Law360
`10/27/21, 11:54 AM
`The largest jury award to come out of patent trials from August 2020 to September was the
`Source: Baker Botts
`$2.18 billion verdict against Intel in Western District of Texas Judge Alan Albright's courtroom.
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`August 2020
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`October 2020
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`March 2021
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`May 2021
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`July 2021
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`August 2021
`Gilstrap
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`Schroder
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`Albright
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`Gilstrap
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`Gilstrap
`Go to Tableau Public
`Mazzant
`Undo
`Gil t
`"I definitely think we've seen a trend in the last 12 to 18 months of larger patent jury verdicts than we've seen generally in the past," Kubehl said, noting that
`there was still a "small" sample size. "By my count, it was maybe 27% awarded that were more than $100 million, which seems to be an uptick in the
`number of just very large awards that we've seen."
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`According to the report, the "locations of the patent jury trials also reflect the timing in which COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by states," as Texas gradually
`lifted its safety restrictions through March of this year, while California took a few months longer to fully reopen.
`
`"Unlike the district courts in Texas, the Central District of California, which comes in fourth ... for patent lawsuit filings, has not held a patent trial, either a
`jury or bench, since pandemic shutdowns began," the report states. Following the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, the District of Delaware placed
`third, according to the report.
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`The report also details the various health and safety protocols that courts have taken during the pandemic. Judge Albright appeared to be more consistent in
`his Western District of Texas courtroom — including requiring masks, social distancing and COVID-19 tests — compared to judges in the Eastern District of
`Texas, who were more varied in the measures that they implemented.
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`Kubehl said that courts are starting to lift some restrictions that were put in place — including the Northern District of Georgia, which in September held an
`in-person trial with no mask mandate or use of plexiglass — which may continue as more and more people get vaccinated.
`
`--Editing by Bruce Goldman.
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`https://www.law360.com/articles/1434133/print?section=delaware
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`SAMSUNG V. SOLAS
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