McKool Smith has been named the 2022 “Litigation Department of the Year - Intellectual Property” by Texas Lawyer. The firm was selected for this prestigious honor based on its success in a string of high-profile IP cases over the past year.
McKool Smith has continued to advance its track record of success in the courtroom with several high profile verdicts and appellate victories. In July 2021, the firm along with Yetter Coleman, secured a $30 million jury verdict for Twinwood Cattle against the American Akaushi Association and HeartBrand Holdings. The verdict is recognized as one of the “Top 100 Verdicts” of 2021 by The National Law Journal.
The next month, the firm secured a massive patent damages verdict for PanOptis against Apple. The verdict was announced on August 13, 2021. Jurors awarded PanOptis $300 million in damages. In a previous trial, in August 2020, jurors found that Apple willfully infringed five PanOptis wireless communication technology patents. The verdict is recognized as one of the “Top 100 Verdicts” of 2021 by The National Law Journal. McKool Smith had previously represented PanOptis in securing a $506 million patent damages award against Apple in August 2020 after jurors found Apple willfully infringed five PanOptis’ wireless communication patents, but the damages award was set aside (while the willful infringement finding stuck). The original verdict is recognized as a “Top 100 Verdict” of 2020 by the National Law Journal.
The firm has also secured several recent high-profile appellate matters. On October 13, 2020, McKool Smith secured a major appellate victory before the Federal Circuit on behalf of Sanofi and Regeneron against Immunex in patent litigation regarding the companies’ novel biologic Dupixent®. Here, the Federal Circuit affirmed McKool Smith’s IPR victory on behalf of Sanofi and Regeneron which determined that all 17 claims of Immunex’s U.S. Patent No. 8,679,487 are invalid. In June 2021, McKool Smith scored another win when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the Federal Circuit ruling, leaving the Court’s decision intact.
McKool Smith also successfully represented Archer & White in several appellate matters involving tens of millions of dollars in damages against Henry Schein and Benco Dental concerning allegations that Schein conspired with others to limit Archer & White’s sales territories. The case was argued a second time in the Supreme Court in December 2020. But, following oral argument, on January 25, 2021, SCOTUS dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted, affirming the district court denial of arbitration.
Finally, on August 31, 2021, McKool Smith secured a pivotal appellate victory before the Fifth Circuit, which affirmed an EDTX jury verdict that McKool Smith secured for Ericsson. Here, the Court found that Ericsson offered plaintiff handset maker HTC fair terms on licenses for standard-essential patents covering cellular technology.
With 120 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. The firm has secured 13 nine-figure jury verdicts and 15 eight-figure jury verdicts, obtaining more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal “Top 100 Verdicts” than any other law firm. These courtroom successes have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, insurance recovery, and white collar defense matters.