August 24, 2024
On August 14, 2024, Central District of California Judge James V. Selna entered judgment in favor of MR Technologies, GmbH and against Western Digital based on a jury verdict for infringement of two MR Technologies patents. The jury awarded the plaintiff more than $262M in damages for that infringement, the court adding in prejudgment interest of around $117M. To punctuate this trial win, MR Technologies has filed another case against Western Digital (8:24-cv-01848) in the same district, asserting the most recent patent to issue in the same family as those just tried to a jury.
MR Technologies originally asserted four patents in its 2022 complaint (9,928,864; 9,978,413; 11,133,031; 11,138,997). They generally relate to hard disk drive magnetic recording media. Infringement allegations targeted the provision of certain magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). The jury found claims 1, 10, and 11 of the '864 patent infringed; claims 1 and 7 of the '997 patent infringed; and none of the infringed claims proven invalid. The $262M award is a reasonable royalty for infringement "through the expiration of the Asserted Patents", the court ruling that the additional $117M "will ensure full compensation for MR's loss and does not amount to a windfall or a punitive award".
The newly asserted patent (12,020,734) issued to MR Technologies on June 25, 2024, naming Dieter Suess as its sole inventor. The earliest estimated priority date in the family reaches back (through a divisional application) to June 2006. Suess is a professor at the University of Vienna in Austria, heading the "Physics of Functional Materials" group. He reportedly testified at the trial that he "formed MR Technologies in 2020 to license his patents and partner with companies to develop magnetic recording technologies based on his inventions". MR Technologies certified litigation counsel, Russ August & Kabat, as the only nonparty having a pecuniary interest in the outcome of its litigation.
During deliberations, the jury sent out a note, asking the court the following question: "During Bergman's testimony, confidence level was mentioned. Regression Analysis usually includes an upper and lower bound associated with a 95% confidence interval. Can we have that lower/higher bound number?" (Jim W. Bergman is the plaintiff's damages expert.) The court responded, "You need to determine this for yourselves from the evidence".
Russ August & Kabat continues to represent MR Technologies. The new case against Western Digital has been initially assigned to District Judge Dean D. Pregerson. 8/18, Central District of California.
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