Firm Wins Patent Infringement Jury Trial for France Telecom

On Sept. 30, 2014, Hughes Hubbard won a jury verdict for France Telecom S.A. (now known as Orange S.A.) in an action for infringement of US Patent 5,446,747.

The verdict concluded a two-week trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that began almost immediately after partner James Dabney joined Hughes Hubbard on Sept. 2nd.
 
France Telecom, a Paris-based telecommunications provider, initially sued Marvell Semiconductor Inc. in June 2012 after the California-based company marketed and sold communications processors (CP’s) that, France Telecom alleged (and proved to the jury’s satisfaction), were configured to perform a method claimed in the ‘747 patent.
 
The ‘747 patent claims a method of error correction coding utilized in various data transmission protocols, including protocols commonly referred to as “3G” mobile communication protocols. 
 
The jury rejected the non-infringement and invalidity defenses Marvell put forward and awarded $1.7 million in damages for direct patent infringement by Marvell. Under instructions Marvell was held not liable for infringements committed by its customers or end users of phones incorporating the accused CP’s, which reduced the recoverable damages. 
 
The case made headlines in Bloomberg and Law360.
 
Dabney led the trial team, which included associate Richard Koehl and paralegal Jeff Bednar.