Rembrandt Technologies Wins $15.7 Million Jury Verdict in Patent Infringement Case Against Samsung

MARSHALL, Texas – A Texas federal jury has awarded $15.7 million to Rembrandt Wireless Technologies LP after finding that Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. infringed on two Rembrandt patents covering Bluetooth technology.

Jurors deliberated only one hour before issuing the Feb. 13 verdict. The five-day trial focused on two Rembrandt patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 8,023,580 and 8,457,228. In addition to the $15.7 million award, Rembrandt also will receive royalty payments on all Samsung Bluetooth sales for the life of the patents.

Rembrandt, a Pennsylvania-based business technology company, sued Samsung and Blackberry Ltd. in 2013. Blackberry settled before the trial. Rembrandt argued that its patents for Bluetooth “enhanced data rate” inventions were infringed by Samsung in its Galaxy S phones.

“Justice was done here. The Rembrandt inventions are at the heart of Samsung Bluetooth capabilities,” says Demetrios Anaipakos, a partner at Houston-based Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos Alavi & Mensing P.C. or AZA. Other AZA lawyers representing Rembrandt were Amir Alavi, Alisa Lipski, Kyril Talanov and Jamie Alan Aycock.

“It would be a surprise if Samsung doesn’t appeal now. It’s expected in these cases. But we are confident the result will be affirmed in all respects,” says Michael F. Heim of Heim Payne & Chorush LLP in Houston, who also represented Rembrandt with fellow firm attorneys Eric J. Enger, Miranda Y. Jones and Blaine A. Larson. Attorney T. John “Johnny” Ward Jr. of Longview’s Ward & Smith served as local counsel.

The case is Rembrandt Wireless Technologies LP v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., et al., No. 2:13-CV-00213, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap presided.

AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, intellectual property, and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized in Chambers USA 2014 among the best in Texas commercial law; U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms in 2014; and Law360 as one of only 13 Texas Powerhouse law firms.

Heim Payne & Chorush LLP is a Houston-based firm that handles technologically complex cases. Its attorneys have strong technical and legal backgrounds that enable the firm to effectively and efficiently take on the most complicated patent, trade secret, and antitrust legal challenges.