JDS Uniphase Securities Class Action (Nov. 2007)

The successful defense of JDS Uniphase and three of its former officers in the trial of a class action securities case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants violated Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act by making numerous false statements regarding JDSU business prospects. The plaintiffs also alleged defendant’s financial statements were false and misleading. Finally, the plaintiffs alleged that each of the individual defendants had engaged in illegal insider trading. Plaintiffs sought damages in excess of $20 billion based on these claims. This is one of the largest damages claims ever presented at trial in the United States. After a four week trial the jury, after less than two days of deliberation, returned a unanimous verdict on behalf of each of the defendants on every claim advanced by the plaintiffs.

Altera Corporation v. Clear Logic Inc.

Successfully prosecuted claims by Altera, a Silicon Valley semiconductor chip designer, that Clear Logic infringed the copyrighted mask work designs of Altera's semiconductor chips and tortiously interfered with Altera's software contracts with customers. Won 2-week jury trial on all claims and secured a $36 million judgment and permanent injunction order.

Xilinx, Inc. v. Altera Corp. July 2001

Represented Altera Corporation in patent litigation with its major competitor in the programmable logic device industry, Xilinx, Inc. In a District Court action in San Jose, the court granted Judgment as a Matter of Law to Altera following a six-week jury trial. Xilinx had contended that the patents-in-suit covered the fundamental architecture of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The firm also represented Altera in a trial at the International Trade Commission on a patent infringement complaint brought by Xilinx. The patents involved the use of user-accessible distributed memory in FPGAs, and a hierarchical structure for the logic and interconnection resources on an FPGA. Both cases settled before a decision was rendered by the judge in the ITC action.

International Chamber of Commerce Proceeding

Represented a leading California winery in an ICC arbitration involving the termination of its Japanese distributor.

Altera Corporation

Represented Altera in a two-week trial at the International Trade Commission on a patent infringement complaint brought by Xilinx. The patents involved the use of user-accessible distributed memory in FPGAs, and a hierarchical structure for the logic and interconnection resources on an FPGA. Case settled before a decision was rendered by the judge in the ITC action.