Fish & Richardson Defeats Multi-Billion Dollar Demand at EDTX Jury Trial

On January 17, 2025, Fish & Richardson secured a jury verdict of non-infringement for one of the world’s largest manufacturers and sellers of Android-based mobile phones, defeating a damages demand of $1.95 billion — the largest patent infringement damages demand ever tried in the Eastern District of Texas. 

The jury returned its finding of no infringement after a five-day trial. The plaintiff, Headwater Research, initially sought $3.06 billion in damages, which it reduced to $2 billion on the eve of trial. 

The case was an attack on the Android operating system, with assertions that certain battery-saving features infringed the Headwater patent. Headwater’s complaint alleged that Fish’s client willfully infringed nine patents, and this case was the first of almost a dozen filed by Headwater attacking the Android operating system.  

“This verdict announces loudly that aggressive plaintiffs’ increasingly unreasonable damage demands in the EDTX will be met with Fish’s fierce resistance and level-headed arguments to reasonable Texas juries,” said Fish Principal Michael McKeon.  

The trial team included Michael McKeon, Thad Kodish, Benjamin Thompson, Thomas Reger, Noah Graubart, Jared Hartzman, Sara Fish, Kate Reardon, John Thornburgh, Erin Alper, Steffen Lake, Nick Gallo, Kyle Fleming, and Meghan Thadani.