Legal Pad

Is An Intel/Nvidia Settlement Nigh?

[Amy Miller]

Are Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. preparing to settle their legal battle over licenses related to Nvidia’s chipset business? Or are they just postponing the inevitable?

A trial between the two chip giants was scheduled to start Dec. 6 in Wilmington, Delaware. But The Wall Street Journal reports today that the trial has been delayed, according to a clerk at the Delaware Chancery Court.

The clerk told the newspaper that the trial had been pulled from the calendar and had not been rescheduled.

The companies have been battling over whether 2004 licensing agreements give Nvidia a patent license to make chipsets for Intel microprocessors that have a built-in memory controller feature.

Intel initially filed suit against Nvidia in early 2009, and Nvidia countersued. Intel contended that Nvidia is not licensed to make the chipsets, while Nvidia has argued that it is.

Microsoft Takes Patent Infringement Appeal to High Court, With Matt Powers

[Amy Miller]

Weil, Gotshal & Manges patent litigator Matt Powers has another chance to beat a $290 million patent infringement judgment against Microsoft Corp.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to consider Microsoft’s appeal of the matter, and Redwood City-based Powers will once again represent the software giant, along with attorneys from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C.

Powers was lead counsel for Microsoft in 2009 when a federal jury in Tyler, Texas, decided that versions of Microsoft Word violated patents held by Toronto software company I4i.

How Random Was the Prop 8 Ninth Circuit Panel Selection?

[Ginny LaRoe]

Was it coincidence Ninth Circuit Judge Michael Daly Hawkins — who was on the motions panel on the Prop 8 appeal — is now one of three who will decide the merits of the gay marriage case?

Or that Judge N. Randy Smith — who heard a related matter in the gay marriage case before it was tried in district court — is on the panel? 

Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski says it’s pure chance.

Zynga and Playdom Settle Trade Secrets Suit

[Kate Moser]

Social gaming rivals Zynga and Playdom have settled the contentious trade secrets dispute we wrote about a few months back. The case pitted Paul Hastings for Zynga against Munger, Tolles & Olson for Disney-owned Playdom.

Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed, according to an L.A. Times blog post. But Zynga GC Reggie Davis is quoted saying the settlement "reflects the very serious nature of the conduct involved, as reflected by the preliminary injunction, restraining orders and contempt order issued by the Santa Clara Superior Court."

Another Gay Rights Case Headed Back to the Ninth Circuit

[Ginny LaRoe]

The Obama administration -- waiting until the last minute -- has filed a notice of appeal in the case of a lesbian who fought and won reinstatement after being discharged under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

The Justice Department filed papers today saying it’s appealing to the Ninth Circuit a Washington state judge’s ruling in Witt v. Dep't of Air Force.

The appeal comes as the Ninth Circuit also is working on the Log Cabin Republicans Don’t Ask case, which features an even more consequential district court ruling striking down the policy globally. The Witt case, which has already had one go-round before the Ninth Circuit, applies only to the plaintiff, Margaret Witt, a major discharged from the Air Force reserves.

Cyrus Sentencing Closes Book on Page Street Gang Case

[Ginny LaRoe]

The Joseph Russoniello days are over, but the way certain criminal prosecutions were handled under his tenure still gets defense attorneys fired up.

That was evident today during the sentencing of convicted Page Street gang member Dennis Cyrus. While U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney worked her way through complicating sentencing matters involving numerous life terms and disputes over newly discovered evidence, gang prosecutors and the a pair of defense attorneys mostly kept things civil and moving along.

But when Chesney noted she wasn’t convinced Cyrus had accepted responsibility for his actions, defense attorney James Scott Thomson seemed to erupt. “He offered to give up his life so that no one would have to go trial,” the defense attorney said, before engaging in a little rant about Russoniello’s handling of gang cases.

Olson Requests Changes to Ninth Circuit's Prop 8 Argument Plan

[Ginny LaRoe]

Two days ago, the Ninth Circuit revealed its time allotments for oral arguments in the gay-marriage case. Today, Theodore Olson, told the court how he wanted things to go down.

The Ninth Circuit said the court would hear two hours of arguments, with the first hour dedicated to standing and the hour second to the merits. The court further divvied up the time in a way that doesn’t sit well for Olsen, the lead attorney at Gibson Dunn who headed up the effort on behalf of a pair of gay couples.

“Rather than treat the two pending appeals together and divide the argument into equal sessions on standing and the merits, plaintiffs respectfully submit that the importance of the merits issues in this case warrants treating the two appeals separately,” Olson writes. “Moreover, the court can establish the amount of time to be spent on standing issues in connection with the proponents’ appeal through its questions at oral argument.”

Real Estate Boutique Triumphs Over Hanson Bridgett With $2.7M Jury Verdict

[Petra Pasternak]

It’s champagne for everyone at Horner & Singer, a six-attorney commercial real estate boutique in Walnut Creek.

Name partner Cliff Horner and senior associate Matt Urdan won a $2.7 million verdict (including punitive damages) for East Bay company Field Properties in a real estate fraud case against The Gomes Partnership for a shady sale of a building that turned out to house a financially crippled tenant.

TGP hired seasoned trial lawyer Ladd Bedford from the 140-lawyer Hanson Bridgett firm.

Cooley Survey: Cleantech Execs See China as Both Opportunity and Threat

[Amy Miller]

Lawyers and executives for cleantech companies see China’s booming population, growing energy needs, and government support for renewable energy as both a threat and an opportunity for clean energy companies in the U.S.

That’s according to a recent survey of 126 cleantech industry leaders conducted by Cooley during its third-annual Clean Energy and Technologies conference, held Nov. 2 in Silicon Valley.

“I don’t think there was any real surprise,” said Jim Fulton, co-chair of Cooley’s clean energy and technologies group. “In any new and exciting market people are going to find opportunities. But that big new player is also going to be a threat to people. This just reinforces what most of us have thought all along.”

Circuit Sets Two-Hour Prop 8 Argument

[Ginny LaRoe]

The Ninth Circuit has released the time allotments for oral arguments in the gay-marriage case.

The Dec. 6 arguments will last two hours, with the first hour dedicated to standing and procedural matters. The second hour gets to the constitutionality of Prop 8, the narrowly approved voter referendum that banned gay marriage in the state.

As for the standing arguments, the first 15 minutes will go to the proponents of Prop 8. The next 15 will go to the Imperial County intervenors. Lawyers for the couples who sued seeking to strike down the ban will have 30 minutes to respond.

In the second hour, the proponents will have 30 minutes to argue the constitutional question. The remaining time will be split between the plaintiffs and the City of San Francisco.

The court gave the parties until Nov. 24 to raise any issues with the allocations.

With the matter briefed and dozens of amicus curiae briefs on file, the next thing to watch for is the names of the judges on the panel. Those names should be revealed Nov. 29.