Faegre Drinker Secures Complete Defense Verdict for Seagate in a Major Patent Infringement Jury Trial

On April 14, 2022, a team of Faegre Drinker intellectual property litigators led by partners David Gross and Chad Drown won a complete defense verdict for client Seagate Technology in a major patent infringement jury trial in the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Following a two-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in less than one day finding that Seagate had not infringed any of the 10 claims brought by a former professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

In the case Lambeth Magnetic Structures v. Seagate Technology Holdings et al., Lambeth had filed suit against Seagate claiming that several microscopic layers in the write heads of Seagate's hard drives infringed a patent he obtained in 2006. On behalf of Seagate, the Faegre Drinker team argued that the hard drive write heads did not follow the structure of ultra-thin magnetic layers and crystals described in Lambeth’s patent. The team also partnered with Faegre Drinker’s Design Lab to create visual advocacy models to teach the jury the underlying complex technology in the patent.

"Our entire trial team is pleased that the jury returned a complete defense verdict of non-infringement for Seagate," said Gross.

Drown added, "This is a great victory for a great client with a great team."

Steven Haines, Vice President, Legal at Seagate said afterwards, “We could not have been more pleased with how the Faegre Drinker team conducted themselves representing Seagate and our core Values of Integrity, Innovation, and Inclusion."

The trial team included Gross, Drown, Kevin Wagner and Kate Razavi with support from partners Helen Chacon and Braden Katterheinrich, counsel Luke Tomsich, associates Kelly Fermoyle and Kirsten Elfstrand, and paralegal Shelley Meyer.

See Law360’s coverage of the case and verdict for more details.