Verizon Undoes $847 Million 5G Patent Verdict, Gets New Trial

Verizon Wireless convinced a federal judge in Texas to set aside a jury’s $847 million patent-infringement verdict and order a new trial.

“The jury’s verdict is against the great weight of the evidence to such a material degree that a new trial is necessary,” Judge Rodney Gilstrap wrote in an order filed Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

He agreed with Verizon’s arguments that no reasonable jury could have found it met certain limitations in the asserted patents and faulting the testimony one of plaintiff General Access Solutions Ltd.'s experts.

Cellco Partnership—which does business as Verizon Wireless—and its supplier Ericsson Inc. had asked for a new trial in early September after the jury found in June that elements of Verizon’s 5G wireless networks, smartphone hot spots, wireless home routers, and MiFi devices infringe claims in US Patent Nos. 7,230,931 and 9,426,794.

Attorneys for General Access Solutions didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bartlit Beck LLP and Ward, Smith & Hill PLLC represent General Access. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, The Dacus Firm PC represents Verizon. Baker Botts LLP represents Ericsson Inc.

The case is General Access Solutions Ltd. v. Cellco Partnership, E.D. Tex., No. 2:22-cv-00394, new trial granted 9/30/24.