Elizabeth L. “Liza” Brann

Brann was part of a team of lawyers who defeated an infringement lawsuit by patent licensing company Uniloc 2017 LLC against Alphabet Inc-owned Google LLC.

The complaints, involving alleged infringement of multiple patents concerning videoconferencing and video encoding technology, were originally filed in the Eastern District of Texas, where Brann’s team of lawyers with Paul Hastings LLP fought back.

“The goal of filing that many cases is to burden the defense,” Brann said. “Part of our role is to keep [the litigation] from being a one-way burden.”

Brann argued a claim construction hearing that went well for the defense, while other attorneys sought to transfer the case to the Northern District of California, considered a more favorable venue for Google.

The transfer motion was successful.

In December, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland dismissed all 11 cases for lack of standing, Brann said. Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Google LLC, 20-5330 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 3, 2020).

In another case, representing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel in September affirmed a defense victory in a patent infringement lawsuit after Brann got key admissions from an expert witness that revealed weaknesses in the plaintiff’s lawsuit.

Brann was deposing the expert witness and undermined International Technologies and Systems Corp.’s infringement case, prompting a judgment of noninfringement. International Technologies and Systems Corp. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al., 17-01748 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 6, 2017).

Brann expects a busy year of patent litigation as the nation recovers from court shutdowns imposed due to the COVID-19 virus, though she believes more hearings will be held over Zoom.

“I think people are going to be more strategic about when you get on a plane and when things are done remotely,” she said.

“I think that’s really good for the practice,” Brann added. “You’re so much more productive.”

— Craig Anderson