Leading trial law firm Susman Godfrey won a $341 million jury verdict on behalf of Dutch telecommunications company Koninklijke KPN N.V. (KPN) in a breach of contract dispute with Samsung Electronics Co. A Texas state court jury returned the verdict after four days of trial and just over three hours of deliberation.
While this lawsuit commenced in September 2022, the dispute arose from a license agreement the parties signed in 2016. In the agreement, KPN gave Samsung certain rights to KPN’s voluminous patent portfolio in return for future payment conditions that KPN contended Samsung was not honoring.
KPN sought $287 million in damages against Samsung for breaching the agreement, and the jury awarded the full amount. Judge Brad Morin of the 71st Judicial District Court in Harrison County presided over the case.
“We are pleased with the jury’s verdict requiring Samsung to fully honor its promise to KPN,” said Lexie White, a Houston-based partner with Susman Godfrey and lead counsel for KPN. “The litigation was fast moving and hard fought, with new facts unfolding mid-trial. We are grateful to the jury for carefully considering the complex issues involved in this case.”
Following the verdict, which was originally ruled to be $287 million, Samsung opted to ask the federal district court in the Eastern District of Texas to assume jurisdiction over the case, arguing that the case presented a substantial federal question. Samsung’s post-trial removal petition is captioned Koninklijke KPN N.V. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Civil Action No. 2:24-cv-00135. On April 4, 2024 a federal Magistrate Judge reviewed Samsung’s removal petition and recommended the case be remanded to state court. In May 2024 the case was remanded to state court by a federal district court and the trial court thereafter entered judgment in the amount of $341 million, which included past damages, prejudgment interest and costs.
White led the Susman Godfrey team that included partners Tamar Lusztig and Hunter Vance, as well as associate Eliza Finley. Kurt Truelove of the Truelove Law Firm served as local counsel.
The jury verdict for KPN has been covered in Law360, World IP Review, and Bloomberg Law.
This is the second jury verdict White and the firm have won for KPN in the past 18 months. In August 2022, White secured a $31.5 million verdict against Swedish telecom giant Ericsson over patent infringement claims relating to telecommunication networking equipment.
