G. Hopkins Guy III

G. Hopkins “Hop” Guy III is a Baker Botts L.L.P. partner and IP litigator with more than 30 years of experience in Silicon Valley. He represents high-tech clients in complex patent, trade secret and commercial contract matters. He’s been with the firm since 2012. He has worked as lead or co-counsel on 75 PTAB cases.

“We’ve had a really busy year with a lot of success at trials, motion practice and appeals,” Guy said.

His clients include Dish Technologies, LLC, Sling TV LLC, DraftKings Inc., BrightEdge Technologies Inc., Toshiba Corp. and Cambium Networks.

Defending Dish and EchoStar Corp., Guy recently concluded a trial in Utah in which a federal jury granted the plaintiff $470 million — only to have the judge erase the big number post-trial on the defense’s judgment as a matter of law motion. ClearPlay Inc. v. Dish Network LLC et al., 2:14-cv-00191 (D. Utah, filed March 13, 2014).

The plaintiff alleged that Dish’s AutoHop feature infringes its patents. After the Patent Trials and Appeals Board found certain of ClearPlay’s claims valid, Baker Botts was retained to conduct the defense at trial. “The judge found there was no infringement because the other side had put on insufficient evidence,” Guy said.

“We were really disappointed in the jury’s verdict. But we had made our JMOL motion mid-trial, and we felt pretty good when the judge granted it a week after the trial concluded,” Guy said. Post-trial litigation continues; the plaintiffs are expected to appeal.

On offense for Dish and for co-defendant Sling TV, Guy and his Baker Botts colleagues achieved a significant win after accusing workout device makers Peloton Interactive, Inc., iFit Health & Fitness Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc. subsidiary Mirror of infringing Dish patents on content streaming systems.

The case moved from the International Trade Commission — where the chief administrative law judge found infringement — to federal court, where Mirror has settled and trial is pending for the other defendants. Certain Fitness Devices, Streaming Components Thereof, and Systems Containing Same, 337-TA-1265 (ITC, filed May 19, 2021).

“The defendants were using our livestreaming capabilities as enabling technology to smooth out buffering,” Guy said. “They threw everything they could at us, but we prevailed.” He tried the case with colleague Lisa M. Kattan, the firm’s ITC practice group chair. “It was fun, and I got to play with some great workout equipment,” Guy said.

—John Roemer