L&P Client Obtains $11.2 Million Total Award in Infringement Suit Following L&P IPR Victory Defending Asserted Patent

Laurence & Phillips IP Law (L&P) client Pavo Solutions LLC was awarded $3.7 million in enhanced damages by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  The enhancement was leveled against Kingston Technology Co. following a jury verdict that Kingston had infringed Pavo’s U.S. Patent No. 6,926,544.  The jury had awarded Pavo $7.5 million.  With the enhancement, the total award is presently over $11 million and will be even more when interest is added.

The trial was made possible after L&P defeated IPR (inter partes review) petitions filed by Kingston against the ’544 Patent, which relates to a USB thumb drive with a rotary protective cover. The cover spins on two protuberances on the sides of the case enclosing the electrical components of the thumb drive. Thumb drives with such protective covers have become ubiquitous since the invention was first described in a patent application in 2002.

In 2014, Kingston filed two IPR petitions against the ’544 Patent at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.  After full trials, the PTAB concluded that Kingston had failed to prove that three of the four independent claims were unpatentable but had proven one independent claim and some of its dependent claims unpatentable.  Both sides appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  The Federal Circuit affirmed in part (the parts Pavo had won before the PTAB) and reversed in part (parts that Pavo had lost before the PTAB).  The result was a complete victory for Pavo.  Both IPRs and the Federal Circuit appeal were handled by Matt Phillips and Kevin Laurence from L&P. 

The IPRs were IPR2015-00149 and IPR2015-00559, and the Federal Circuit appeals were No. 2016-2209 and 2016-2328.