Dentons won a resounding victory in two, back-to-back, major jury trials for client Nistica, Inc. in one of the largest patent cases litigated in the U.S district courts in 2016, Finisar Corp. v. Nistica, Inc., Case No. 5:13-cv-03445. On January 20, the Honorable Beth Labson Freeman, U.S. District Court Judge in San Jose, California, upheld the jury verdicts in Nistica’s favor, denying plaintiff Finisar's motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial, securing Nistica’s complete victory in this large 6-patent case.
This patent infringement case is between Silicon Valley-based Finisar Corp. and its competitor Nistica, Inc. of Bridgewater, New Jersey, a subsidiary of Japan-based Fujikura Ltd. In July 2013, Finisar filed suit against its competitor in the optical networking business alleging infringement of more than 150 patent claims in six separate families of complex optics patents. The technology and products are wavelength selective switches used in advanced telecommunications networks throughout the world. Finisar sought a permanent injunction to protect more than a billion dollars in revenue and to block Nistica's participation in a key segment of the market in this "bet the company" case for Nistica. Four of Finisar’s six asserted patents were knocked out of the case on summary judgment or dropped prior to trial following Daubert motions and motions in limine.
On May 2, 2016, after three years of hard fought litigation, Finisar proceeded to trial on the remaining two patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,397,980 (“’980 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 7,092,599 (“’599 patent”). A federal jury in San Jose, California, retuned a unanimous 8-0 verdict of noninfringement in favor of Nistica, Inc. on the ‘980 patent, and was deadlocked 7-1, in Nistica's favor, upon Finisar's failure to prove infringement of the ‘599 patent. Because jury verdicts must be unanimous in this court, a second jury trial was held in June 2016 on Finisar's accusation that Nistica infringes the ‘599 patent. On June 27, 2016, a second jury returned a unanimous verdict 8-0 in Nistica's favor finding noninfringement of the ‘599 patent. Following the second jury trial, the Court entered judgment in Nistica's favor and dismissed with prejudice all of Finisar's claims. On January 20, 2017, the court upheld the jury verdicts in their entirety sealing Nistica’s complete victory.
"Nistica provides exceptional technologies for the highly competitive communications industry and the outcome of this case was critical to removing unnecessary barriers to business. Protecting Nistica's assets and ability to bring these important innovations to the market was our team's ultimate goal in winning these trials," said Robert Kramer, Co-Chair of Dentons' Patent Litigation Practice, who is lead trial counsel for Nistica. "We are delighted to represent Nistica, Inc. on this matter and we congratulate them on this outstanding news," said Lora Brzezynski, Dentons senior partner who was on the Nistica trial team. “This resounding victory speaks volumes about Nistica’s products and technology,” said Victor Boyajian, Chair of Dentons’ Global Venture Technology Practice.
In addition to Rob Kramer and Lora Brzezynski, the Dentons trial team included experienced patent litigation partners Russell Tonkovich, Jennifer Bennett, counsel Heather Khassian, and Dentons associate attorneys, including Patrick Doll, Meagan Dyer Self, and Andrew Azarmi.
Finisar Corp. is represented by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP of Redwood Shores, CA, and Radulescu LLP of New York, NY.
Dentons' Intellectual Property and Technology practice consists of more than 100 lawyers and professionals, including numerous experienced electrical engineers (EEs), computer scientists, chemical engineers and other technically trained professionals holding advanced degrees. Dentons IP group ranked in the top 10 percent of all law firms for intellectual property litigation. Most recently, the firm's IP group was named an “IP Litigation Powerhouse” in the BTI Litigation Outlook 2017, and the San Francisco/Palo Alto IP team was honored by the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards 2016 for IP Litigation. In addition, BTI Consulting included Dentons among its 2017 "Fearsome Foursome," an honor bestowed upon four elite law firms for their intense approach and fierce tactics in today’s competitive legal market, while Law360 listed Dentons among its “Top 50 Litigation Powerhouse Firms” in 2016.
