Faegre & Benson Wins Patent Appeal for Seagate

Faegre & Benson LLP has successfully represented Seagate in a patent appeal, resolved yesterday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a California jury's verdict that Siemens' patent asserted against Seagate's hard disc drives was invalid.

The Federal Circuit's opinion represents a complete victory for Seagate on Siemens' claim for patent infringement.

Faegre & Benson attorney David J.F. Gross, who served as lead trial and appellate counsel for Seagate, says he was confident the Federal Circuit would respect the jury's verdict. "We believed the jury's verdict was well supported by the evidence, and we are very pleased that the court of appeals agreed with us," says Gross.

Siemens sued Seagate in 2006 in the Central District of California, alleging that all Seagate disc drives since 2000 infringed a patent on a particular type of sensor used in read heads for hard disc drives. On December 23, 2008, the jury found Siemens' patent invalid based on anticipation and obviousness. Siemens' appeal was denied by the Federal Circuit on March 9.

In addition to Gross, the Seagate appellate team included Faegre & Benson IP litigation partners Cal Litsey and Aaron Van Oort and IP litigation associates Chad Drown, Tim Grimsrud, Kevin Wagner, Chris Burrell, Jeya Paul, Ari Lukoff, and Darcy Grunwald.

Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of hard disc drives and storage solutions, providing products for a wide-range of applications, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, and Consumer Solutions.