Top Plaintiffs' Verdicts by Dollar: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al.

Apple Inc. has secured three patent trial awards exceeding $1 billion against business rival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in under two years, thanks primarily to a joint trial team from Morrison & Foerster LLP and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP.

The latest result came in May, when jurors found Samsung infringed two Apple patented smartphone features and awarded the iPhone maker $119.6 million in damages. U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh had determined Samsung infringed a third smartphone feature on summary judgment earlier in the proceeding. Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al, 12-CV630 (N.D. Cal., filed Feb, 8, 2012).

Jurors also declined to invalidate any of Apple's asserted patents.

Consistency and cooperation have been key for the joint team. Morrison & Foerster's Harold J. McElhinny and WilmerHale's William F. Lee have shared the spotlight through the three trials, dividing Apple's opening statements, closing arguments and a significant portion of witness examinations.

During the four-week trial, the Apple team also relied on key witnesses who already had testified on behalf of the iPhone maker in previous "smartphone war" proceedings.

Those witnesses included Apple vice president of marketing Philip W. Schiller and Massachusetts Institute of Technology marketing professor John R. Hauser.

The day-to-day work on Apple-Samsung has wound down now for McElhinny, Rachel Krevans and rest of the Morrison & Foerster team, after four years of depositions, motion practice and litigation through the two cases.

Now they await to see what happens with Lee and the WilmerHale team that is fully submerged in ongoing appellate work.

Koh denied Apple's request for a sales ban against Samsung smartphone and tablet products found to infringe its patented features. Apple has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to overturn that decision, with oral arguments slated for March in a case that could clarify the standard for winning injunctive relief.

Attorneys are also preparing appeals and cross-appeals over infringement and validity issues tied to the jury verdict.

Both law firms have stayed quiet due to the pending appeals.

- KEVIN LEE