Christopher W. Kennerly

Christopher W. Kennerly

Christopher W. Kennerly is a partner in the intellectual property practice at Paul Hastings LLP and chair of the litigation department at the Palo Alto office. He has been with the firm for nine years.

Clients include Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Google LLC and AT&T Inc. One key to his success for those companies is the way his master’s degree in electrical engineering aids his understanding of the underlying technology at issue.

Kennerly also has a bioengineering degree.

“Both can be exceedingly handy depending on the subject matter,” he said. “The best aspect is that a client or an opposing witness or expert relates to you more at the peer level—in a deposition or elsewhere, you get a little more respect, you have a conversation that is a little more productive.”

For Samsung, Kennerly recently defended and obtained a favorable pre-trial settlement with a lot of money at stake when a company in the gesture detection business alleged patent infringement. The plaintiff claimed that Samsung infringed four related patents directed to using camera functionality in a mobile device to detect gestures or other movements and then control a function of the device in response. Gesture Technology Partners LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc., 2:21-cv-00041 (E.D. Texas, filed Feb. 4, 2021).

“It was a four-patent case in which the claims targeted all of Samsung’s mobile device product line,” Kennerly said. “One accused feature was a live emoji that mirrors users’ actions on a smartphone.”

Kennerly presented the argument on key claim terms at the Markman hearing and obtained favorable claim constructions from the court that it could successfully leverage into a strong defense position. “Our strong defense drove a favorable settlement” before the scheduled March 2022 trial, he said.

In another Samsung case, Kennerly led the Paul Hastings team defending the client against a plaintiff, alleging it infringes patents related to 3D printing devices and movement tracking. Although the Eastern District of Texas rarely grants stays pending IPR proceedings, the team obtained such a stay. CyWee Group Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc., 2:17-cv-00140 (E.D. Texas, filed July 14, 2017).

Following that success, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found all challenged claims unpatentable. The plaintiff’s appeal was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A separate IPR proceeding found additional claims unpatentable and denied a motion to amend. Again, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB. Back at the PTAB, CyWee’s request for director rehearing was denied; a further appeal is pending.

“These are good examples of the significant cases I do in which there’s never a dull moment,” Kennerly said.

– John Roemer