Top Plaintiffs' Verdicts by Impact: TransPerfect Global Inc. et al v. MotionPoint Corp.

U.S. District Judge Claudia A. Wilken in November barred Florida-based MotionPoint Corp. from providing certain translation services, a decision that enhanced a July patent trial victory for rival TransPerfect Global Inc.

Wilken issued the injunction after jurors in Oakland determined that MotionPoint infringed a TransPerfect patent. The jury awarded New York-based TransPerfect just over $1 million in damages. TransPerfect Global Inc. et al. v. MotionPoint Corp., 10-2590 (N.D. Cal., filed June 11, 2010).

Both TransPerfect and MotionPoint offer proxy-based services that translate their clients' websites into different languages.

"You have competitor-versus-competitor litigation that was not about immediate damages, but about prominence and dominance in a marketplace, whether you will have a monopoly or a competition," said Douglas E. Lumish, TransPerfect's lead outside counsel.

"MotionPoint is now the one facing an injunction and damages when they were the ones trying to keeping the marketplace to themselves," he added.

The injunction against MotionPoint will take effect after Wilken rules on the litigants' post-trial motions later this year.

Lumish credited TransPerfect co-CEO Phil Shawe and Chief Technology Officer Mark Hagerty for testifying in court.

"It's a rare luxury when you get the CEO of this company to be there and talk to you about what's happening in the industry and to mentor you through the developments," Lumish said.

Although Lumish and three of his colleagues jumped to Latham & Watkins LLP from Kasowitz, Benson Torres & Friedman LLP just weeks before trial, both firms continued representing TransPerfect.

- KEVIN LEE

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