VLSI v. Intel II | Top 5 | What to Know Before Trial

This week, VLSI and Intel begin their second jury trial, and WacoWatch is there to keep you apprised of the events for every trial day. Below are our top 5 things to know before trial.

1. Who: Backed by hedge-fund Fortress Investment Group, plaintiff VLSI continues its patent assertion against Intel in the second of three trials. The first trial jury awarded VLSI $2.18 billion.
2. What: The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,366,522 and 6,633,187. Similar to the patents asserted in the first trial, these patents relate to power consumption and speed improvements on an integrated circuit. Also similar to the first trial, Intel’s petitions for Inter Partes Review were discretionarily denied under the Fintiv factors. While VLSI alleges different Intel products infringe than what was accused in the first trial, we expect VLSI’s and Intel’s respective damages theories to be the same based on the pre-trial motions.
3. Where: This second trial is in Waco because Austin is still closed. VLSI moved to transfer the second case/trial and the third case/trial (scheduled to begin June 7, 2021) from Austin to Waco. On March 28, 2021, Judge Albright granted the motion to transfer the second case/trial to Waco but denied the motion to transfer the third case/trial as premature (i.e., the third case/trial remains in Austin).
4. When: Trial begins on April 12, 2021. Each side has 14 hours for its case. We expect the trial to continue through the week.
5. How: Based on the pre-trial motions, it looks like VLSI will again rely on its “hedonic regression” damages analysis, which purports to determine the patents' incremental technical value, convert the alleged technical value to economic value, deduct Intel's costs, and apportion the supposedly incremental profits. It also looks like Intel plans to present non-infringement and invalidity defenses, as well as rely on a similar license-based damages model.