Credit: jiris/Adobe Stock Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs
A Robins Kaplan trial team won a $42.5 million verdict for Willis Electric Co. Ltd. in a patent fight with Polygroup—the world's leading maker of artificial Christmas trees.
January 26, 2024 at 07:25 AM
6 minute read
Our first runner-up this week is Patrick Arenz a partner, at Robins Kaplan who led a trial team representing Willis Electric Co. Ltd. in a patent fight with Polygroup—the world's leading maker of artificial Christmas trees. In what appears to be the largest patent verdict in Minnesota history, jurors in Minneapolis awarded Willis $42.5 million in damages last week after finding Polygroup infringed the patent behind Willis's prelit One Plug Tree. The jury found that Polygroup's infringement was willful, opening the door for a request to U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen, who oversaw the trial, for as much as triple that amount. The Robins Kaplan team also included Emily Niles, Jessica Gutierrez, Brenda Joly and Prateek Viswanathan.
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