Texas’ Distanced Juries Hit Big Tech With $3.7 Billion of Awards
- Jurors separated with Plexiglass hammer Apple, Intel, Samsung
- Few patent trials held outside of Texas during Covid pandemic
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The coronavirus pandemic halted most jury trials of patent disputes as courts closed across the country -- except in Texas, where socially distanced juries have churned out a series of multimillion-dollar verdicts over the past year.
More than $3.7 billion has been awarded to patent holders in just seven Texas trials held since courts started shutting down a year ago. The state’s courts have long been known for some big verdicts, but “it’s been 10 years since we saw these kind of verdicts come one after another,” said Geneva Clark, patent legal data expert with the research firm Lex Machina.