(Courtesy photo)Perkins Coie Cost Client $150M Tech Patent Payday, Lawsuit Claims
Muzik Inc. blames the firm for losing out on royalties from products such as Apple's AirPods and Amazon.com's Echo Dot.
January 21, 2020 at 02:31 PM
2 minute read
A former client hit Perkins Coie with a $150 million lawsuit on Friday, alleging the firm failed to seek and secure key patents that would have generated royalties from wildly successful products such as Apple's AirPods and Amazon.com's Echo Dot.
Muzik Inc., which makes high-end headphones, said it began working in 2012 with Sean Grygiel on protecting its inventions relating to voice controls and how smartphones and so-called smart devices communicate. The company said its "fatal mistake" was to keep working with Grygiel when he moved from Fish & Richardson to Perkins Coie in 2014.
The lawsuit claims Grygiel "tried to cover up repeated failures in seeking and securing patents, at one point by manufacturing false patent application numbers." Muzik alleges that Grygiel said in December 2015 that he had filed four patent applications covering its hardware, user interface, "moments functionality" and chat features, only to learn when it hired new patent lawyers that no such applications were filed.
"Had Grygiel and Perkins Coie acted within the standard of care, Muzik would have the rights to royalties, and the advantage of being first to market, on core technologies in the rapidly growing field of connected device controls," the suit claims.
The case was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, asserting that the court has jurisdiction because Grygiel practiced in New York. The complaint includes two counts, for fraud and legal malpractice, and seeks $150 million.
Relevant deadlines were tolled, or paused, for more than a year under an agreement with Perkins Coie, the complaint states.
Muzik is represented by a team from Greenspoon Marder, whose Wendy Michael signed the complaint, and lawyers from Robins Kaplan, including Craig Weiner, its New York commercial and financial litigation group chairman, and Roman Silberfeld, a partner who is the firm's national trial chairman.
"We do not comment on pending litigation, but be assured that we intend to defend this case vigorously," a Perkins Coie spokesman said.
Grygiel, who is now a partner at Dentons, didn't respond to a comment request. According to his LinkedIn profile, Grygiel left Perkins Coie in 2017 after less than three years to join Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, before leaving for Dentons last August.
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