Experience

Networking and Cybersecurity Solutions Company Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Represented a multinational networking and cybersecurity solutions company in a 6-patent infringement lawsuit in the Western District of Texas and in the related IPR proceedings. The lawsuit accused a broad range of data center-related technology, including routers, switches, firewall devices, and the company’s operating system of infringement. The matter resolved with a settlement favorable for our client.

BladeRoom v. Facebook and Emerson

After a five-week jury trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, our team won for UK-based BladeRoom a $30 million verdict against global manufacturing giant Emerson for willful and malicious misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of a non-disclosure agreement relating to BladeRoom’s revolutionary new methodology for constructing warehouse-sized data centers. The Daily Journal named this one of the “Top Verdicts” in California in 2018. The Court subsequently awarded BladeRoom an additional $30 million in exemplary damages and $17 million in prejudgment interest, for a total judgement exceeding $77 million. Our client settled with Facebook after the first week of trial.

hiQ Labs Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.

Represented startup hiQ Labs Inc. in a precedent-setting litigation for data analytics, mining, and aggregator companies and their right to access publicly available data under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and a California state law on unauthorized computer access. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed hiQ’s preliminary injunction against LinkedIn.

Purple Leaf v. Google, Inc.

Defended Google Checkout in the Eastern District of Texas against assertions that it infringed a patent owned by Purple Leaf that purportedly disclosed a way to conduct an online transaction directly between merchant and buyer. After initial pleadings, we were able to attain a dismissal of the claims against Google. 

Firm Highlights

Publication

Litigation Trends In the Private Equity and Venture Capital Space

In today's Upside episode, we explore fiduciary duty in the venture capital context. Can owners of a venture capital management company act in ways that explicitly disadvantage their business partners? Can they agree to...

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Publication

Technology Platforms and Developments in Antitrust Law

Alex Reese discusses "Technology Platforms and Developments in Antitrust Law." Technology platforms are digital marketplaces where software developers, competing companies, and end users all come to build and buy software tools, store data, or integrate...

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Publication

7 Tips to Help Financial Advisor Firms Protect Their Customer Lists

Customer relationships are a key asset for companies in the financial advising and wealth management industry. In California, however, the law is making it increasingly difficult to stop departing employees from soliciting customers after...

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Publication

What Recent Rulings in 'hiQ v. LinkedIn' and Other Cases Say About the Legality of Data Scraping

LinkedIn obtained a permanent injunction on Dec. 6 in its six-year-old lawsuit against data scraping company hiQ Labs, which LinkedIn quickly cheered as a “final, decisive victory” that established an “important legal precedent.” While...

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News

Farella Receives American Antitrust Institute 2022 Antitrust Enforcement Award

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that it has received a 2022 Antitrust Enforcement Award for “Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice” from the American Antitrust...

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