Unnecessary Verdict of Zero Damages And Brief Deliberations Do Not Indicate Juror Bias​

Following a jury verdict of noninfringement and invalidity, the court denied plaintiffs' motion for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was arbitrary and anti-patent. "After a four-day trial, the jury deliberated for almost three and a half hours before reaching a unanimous verdict of non-infringement on fourteen claims and invalidity on nine claims from three of [plaintiffs'] patents and three of [defendant's] patents. Despite an instruction in the verdict form to answer the questions on damages for each patent 'only if [the jury] found at least one claim of a patent valid . . . and the same claim of that patent infringed,' the jury indicated 'zero' for all damages. . . . There is no 'minimum deliberation time' required before a jury may reach a verdict. . . . [U]nder [plaintiffs'] logic, any unanimous verdict of non-infringement and invalidity returned under four hours is 'a uniformly anti-patent verdict.'. . . Although the jury should not have answered the damages section of the verdict form, the jury’s finding of non-infringement is clear and disposes of the damages issues."

Metaswitch Networks Ltd. et al v. Genband US LLC et al, 2-14-cv-00744 (TXED August 28, 2017, Order) (Gilstrap, USDJ)