In a verdict filed Thursday in the Eastern District of Texas, a federal jury has handed a $190 million verdict against Verizon Wireless for infringing on patents held by Aspen Networks Inc. for the management of cell phone calls between cellular service and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Although details of the jury verdict were sealed, according to court records, a publicly available version of the verdict showed that the jury sided with Aspen on all six of the claims against Verizon they were asked to resolve.
Aspen was represented by Womble Bond Dickinson and the Tyler-based firm of Findlay Craft as local counsel. Verizon was represented by The Dacus Firm and Duane Morris.
The lawsuit is one of three filed in 2023 by Aspen, a communications technology company based in Santa Clara, California, against Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T alleging unauthorized use of their technology covered by Patent No. 8,009,544, which allows cellphones to transfer calls via local Wi-Fi networks when cell service is weak or unavailable.
Although the three cases were consolidated for purposes of discovery, the case against Verizon was the first to reach trial. The cases against T-Mobile and AT&T have apparently not yet been set for trial.
The ‘544 patent at issue — entitled “Method for Multiple Link Quality of Service for Voice and Video Over Internet Protocol” — was awarded in August 2011 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In its complaint, Aspen said the technology behind the ‘544 patent allows cell phone calls in-progress to be seamlessly switched between the connecting protocols of cellular and Wi-Fi services without apparent disruption.
Aspen claimed that Verizon promoted its unauthorized use of Aspen’s patented technology as its own “Vo Wi-Fi” service, “making, using, importing, supplying, distributing for sale, or selling” the service throughout the U.S.
Aspen said Verizon knew of the infringement, at the very least, by Aspen’s filing of the complaint but continued — not only to use the technology, but to encourage its use by third parties, including customers and other end-users.
For their part, Verizon denied any infringement, arguing that the patent itself represented “prior art” that was unenforceable as an actual claim for damages.
Fabio Marino from Silicon Valley, and one of the Womble lawyers representing Aspen, said their client particularly appreciated the jury’s attention to detail.
“They paid attention and really got to the bottom of the issues that were presented to them by both sides. We were fortunate enough to talk to all of the jurors after trial to thank them personally and understand what drove their decision,” Marino told The Texas Lawbook.
Barry Herman of the Baltimore office of Womble Bond Dickinson served as lead lawyer for the plaintiffs alongside Mariano, Preston Heard (Atlanta) and Christy Dupriest (Washington, D.C.).
Eric Findlay of Findlay Craft in Tyler was local counsel.
The Verizon defense was led by Deron Dacus of the Tyler-based Dacus Firm, along with several lawyers from Duane Morris: Matt Gaudet from Atlanta, Kevin Anderson of Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia-based Aleksander Goranin.
The case is Aspen Networks Inc. v. Cellco Partnership /dba/ Verizon Wireless, No. 2:23-00557 before U.S. District Judge Robert William Schroeder III.