Stay Pending IPR Following $44 Million Verdict Granted

The court granted defendant's post-trial renewed motion to stay pending inter partes review following a $44 million jury verdict because the PTAB invalidated all but one of plaintiff's asserted claims while post-trial motions were pending. "This case is at a very late stage of litigation. A jury has found the patents-in-suit to be valid, determined that defendants infringed all of the claims at issue and awarded plaintiffs damages. . . . Resolving [14 post-verdict] motions would require a ruling on almost every contested issue in this case, including infringement, invalidity and damages. Because all but one of the claims-in-suit are addressed in the recent decisions issued by the [PTAB] and the remaining claim is the subject of inter partes review, a stay would provide important guidance from the patent office, simplify the case, avoid a needless waste of judicial resources and prevent inconsistent results between the inter partes review and this litigation. . . . [E]ven if I did not stay the litigation, the judgment in this case and the board’s inter partes review decisions would be on appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at approximately the same time. As long as any portion of this case remained open at the time the court of appeals ruled on the board’s final decisions (which is highly likely given the timing of the appeals processes), cancellation of the patent claims would moot plaintiffs’ infringement claims."

Ultratec, Inc. et al v. Sorenson Communications, Inc. et al, 3-13-cv-00346 (WIWD May 13, 2015, Order) (Crabb, J.)