MARSHALL, Texas, June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A jury in the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall has ordered the fourth-largest
supplier of mobile devices in the U.S. to pay $31.5 million for infringing two technology
patents owned by DataQuill Ltd.
China-based ZTE Corp., which
also is the second-largest supplier of prepaid mobile devices in
the U.S., was ordered to pay the multimillion-dollar verdict on
June 18. Jurors found that the
company infringed DataQuill's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,058,304 and
7,139,591, which were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office in 2000 and 2006, respectively.
The jury heard evidence that ZTE ignored a 2009 letter from
DataQuill about the infringed patents and refused to enter a
licensing agreement. The $31.5
million verdict covers ZTE's infringement of a variety of
mobile devices through March 2015,
including over 50 different smartphone models manufactured by
ZTE.
DataQuill was represented at trial by a team that included
attorneys Parker C. Folse and Joseph S. Grinstein of Susman Godfrey
L.L.P.; Johnny Ward of Longview's
Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC; Leslie Payne of Houston's Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP, and
S. Calvin Capshaw of Gladewater's
Capshaw DeRieux LP, among others.
The jury appearing before Judge Rodney
Gilstrap affirmed the validity of all five of DataQuill's
infringement claims against ZTE. The case, which was filed in 2013,
is DataQuill Ltd. v. ZTE USA
Inc., No. 2:13-CV-00634.
Longview, Texas-based Ward,
Smith & Hill, PLLC, 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.
For more information on the $31.5
million patent infringement verdict won by DataQuill, please
contact Bruce Vincent at
800-559-4534 or
bruce@androvett.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dataquill-wins-315-million-texas-patent-infringement-verdict-against-zte-corp-300106910.html
SOURCE Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC