© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(January 15)–Before the new year, three patent litigators from Weil Gotshal joined Greenberg Traurig’s Austin office, including Kevin Kudlac and Amber Lee Hagy as shareholders and Rene Anthony Treviño as of counsel. It followed a similar move in early December, when Greenberg Traurig added three patent litigators from Weil to its Washington, D.C. office.
“Kevin, Amber and Rene are exceptional patent litigators with the right focus and backgrounds at this time and place,” Richard A. Rosenbaum, CEO of Miami-based Greenberg Traurig, said in a statement issued by the firm.
“Austin is not only one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, but is a key state capital and is recognized as a leading center for the convergence of technology and content, where major high tech companies sit side-by-side with significant music, film and other entertainment players and the growing group of funds and other investors who finance them,” he added. “These are all strategic sectors for us, and Texas is an important part of our firm’s future.”
The move grows the Austin office to 18 lawyers. Kudlac said the firm’s entrepreneurial spirit is one that is well-suited to the state’s capital.
“The combination of that entrepreneurial spirit and the opportunity to be part of a growing Texas and patent litigation-focused practice is exactly what I was looking for,” he said.
The former software engineer at Schlumberger Industries said he spent the last four years at Weil commuting from Austin to his office in Houston, so he looks forward to spending more time connecting with the Austin intellectual property and patent community.
Because of recent statutory and case law developments, Kudlac said he and his clients are paying close attention to the question of where patent trials are ultimately going to take place and when that determination should be made.
“Should it be made early in the case if the defendant files a motion to transfer, or can the court wait to make that determination until after some of the more significant activities in a patent case have occurred, such as the Markman hearing?” said Kudlac, who focuses his practice on patent disputes involving complex electrical and computer-related technology.
“This activity may also lead to consideration of an increased use of consolidation by way of Multi-District Litigation (MDL) proceedings.”
Two of the biggest cases Kudlac has handled in his career both involved representing Microsoft. The first was the CAC v. Microsoft patent infringement case that went to trial in Beaumont, Texas in Nov. 2007.
He said the case was unique because his team was able to obtain a complete defense verdict from the jury — both non-infringement and invalidity, on two separate grounds. The plaintiff was seeking more than $750 million.
The second was the i4i v. Microsoft patent infringement case that was ultimately heard and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Kudlac handled the case from the day it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas until the nation’s highest court ruled 8 to 0 in favor of i4i.
Kudlac’s work with Microsoft extends into the community. He has been working with the Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) program, founded by Microsoft and Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, for the past couple of years to help provide pro bono legal counsel to refugee and immigrant children in the U.S. who are unaccompanied by their parents. He also assisted the Innocence Project during the Court of Inquiry concerning Ken Anderson and the Michael Morton case.
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