US Supreme Court to Hear Appeal in Patent Fight with Cisco

DALLAS, Dec. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a controversial appeals court decision that set aside a $63.8 million patent infringement verdict won by The Woodlands, Texas-based Commil USA LLC against Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO.

Attorneys Mark S. Werbner, Richard A. "Dick" Sayles, Mark D. Strachan and Darren Nicholson of Dallas-based Sayles Werbner represent Commil in the appeal along with Leslie V. Payne, Nathan J. Davis and Miranda Y. Jones from Houston's Heim, Payne & Chorush. The Sayles Werbner team represented Commil in the 2011 trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas over a patent covering wireless networking technology.

"We are very pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear Commil's appeal so this important issue can be resolved," says Werbner. "We are confident that the high court will strike down the 'new defense' created by the Federal Circuit, which unfairly absolves those who infringe a valid patent."

The 2011 jury verdict later was bumped to more than $73 million with the addition of prejudgment interest, but was nullified in 2013 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears patent litigation appeals. The Federal Circuit held that Cisco should have been allowed to enter evidence that it had a good faith belief that the infringed Commil patent was invalid. The patent was found to be valid by jurors in an earlier trial in 2010.

The controversial Federal Circuit ruling resulted in both the U.S. Solicitor General and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office supporting Commil's request for the nation's highest court to hear the case. Commil and the company's supporters argued that the Federal Circuit's decision flew in the face of the U.S. Patent Act, which holds that all issued patents are presumed to be valid.

Sayles Werbner has an international reputation as a "go to" trial law firm in multifaceted business litigation, patent litigation, life-altering personal injury cases, and other areas of the law. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.swtriallaw.com.

For more information on the Commil v. Cisco case, please contact Bruce Vincent at 800-559-4534 or bruce@androvett.com.

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SOURCE Sayles Werbner