Charles K. Verhoeven

Verhoeven continues to lead a battle on behalf of Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. against Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. over market dominance of the multibillion-dollar smartphone market.

At the heart of the dispute is the use of Google Inc.'s Android operating system, which has spurred legal challenges from Apple as well as Microsoft.

Currently, there are more than 30 lawsuits raging.

"For several years, Apple has been engaging in a thermonuclear war and has nothing to show for it," Verhoeven said. "There is no injunction of any product."

Among his other significant matters, in October, Verhoeven prevailed on an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of Google-owned Motorola Mobility Inc. Microsoft Corp. v. The International Trade Commission et al., 2112-1445 (Fed. Cir., filed Oct. 3, 2013).

Microsoft had sued Motorola at the International Trade Commission, alleging infringement of nine patents.

"Microsoft is an aggressor against Motorola in a campaign to try to generate licensing revenue fees," Verhoeven said.

He prevailed on all but one of the dispute patents, and that one subsequently expired, Verhoeven said, "So that leaves Microsoft with nothing."

Evaluating the battlefield, Verhoeven said, "We have aggressors coming after Android, trying to compete in a courtroom instead of the marketplace, and we've staved off those threats."

As to his victories so far, he added, "We believe this has been beneficial to competition in the United States."

- Pat Broderick