Marshall Jury Renders Verdict in Patent Case

A Marshall jury stayed late last Tuesday night to finish its work and render a verdict in Convolve v. Hitachi, et al. in Judge Everingham's court.  The trial took six days and was argued the morning of the seventh.  The jury found all asserted claims infringed, answered yes on willful infringement, and found that the patent was not proven invalid by clear and convincing evidence.  Following the jury trial, Judge Everingham conducted a bench trial on the defendants' laches defense, and will issue findings and conclusions at a later date.   The jury assessed damages of $5.4 million against defendants Dell, Hitachi and Western Digital ($1.5 as to Dell, $2.5 as to Western Digital, and $1.4 as to Hitachi).  Plaintiff had asked the jury for $196 million, representing a one dollar royalty on sales of 196 million hard drives, so the jury award was approximately three percent of what the plaintiff argued for in closing.