Intersil obtains reversal of $77 million judgment in trade-secret and patent dispute
Client(s) Intersil Corporation
Intersil Corporation (now known as Renesas Electronics America Inc.), represented by a cross-office, cross-practice team of Jones Day lawyers, obtained a Federal Circuit reversal of a $77 million judgment previously entered in favor of plaintiff Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. (TAOS) after a 2015 jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In this case, TAOS alleged that Intersil had misappropriated certain ambient light sensor technology used in the manufacture of electronic devices (like cellular phones) to adjust screen brightness in response to external, or ambient, light sources. Among the holdings contained in its 50-page opinion, the Federal Circuit reversed the judgment, rejecting TAOS's claims of misappropriation of two of the three claimed trade secrets as a matter of law; ruled that any damages that might be awarded on remand for the remaining alleged trade secret would have to be much more limited, and would have to be decided by a judge, not a jury; reversed the jury's patent-infringement verdict with respect to TAOS's patent; and upheld the district court's pretrial grant of summary judgment excluding TAOS's claim of patent-infringement damages for products manufactured, packaged, tested, and sold overseas.
Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. v. Renesas Electronics America Inc., Nos. 2016-2121, -2208, -2235 (Fed. Cir. May 1, 2018); Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. v. Intersil Corporation, No. 4-08-cv-00451 (E.D. Tex.)
