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Final win for security startup comes in U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) case brought by industry giant Motorola Solutions.
SAN FRANCISCO – In a move almost unheard of in intellectual property law, Motorola Solutions chose not to appeal any issues after receiving an adverse U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling in its patent fight with Verkada, an up-and-coming startup in the physical security market.
Motorola Solutions’ decision brings to a close to its 2021 ITC action against Verkada, whom the much larger, Chicago-based company deemed a threat to its foothold in the security space.
“I am not familiar with any other instances of a party not appealing a single issue after losing on every count at the ITC and without a settlement,” said Sean S. Pak, Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel’s National Intellectual Property Litigation Practice, who led Verkada’s legal team. “This was a David-v-Goliath win for Verkada, which is a true disruptor in the security industry with its cutting-edge, cloud-based security solutions that have never been more relevant than they are today.”
Motorola Solutions and its Avigilon subsidiary brought patent infringement claims against San Mateo, Calif.-based Verkada in August 2021. Filing its complaint at the ITC, Motorola sought to block the importation of Verkada’s security cameras entirely—an important component of Verkada’s cloud-managed platform that empowers over 17,000 organizations across more than 70 countries to keep the communities they live and work in safer.
In October, ITC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Bryan Moore – ruling in his first ITC trial since he was appointed – issued an initial determination in favor of Verkada on two patent infringement claims brought by Motorola and Avigilon. After an extensive trial, ALJ Moore found no violation by Verkada for two of the three asserted patents, and only a very narrow violation for the third patent, limited to a design that Verkada no longer uses.
Then, on March 31, came Verkada’s complete vindication. The Commission reversed ALJ Moore’s finding of the single instance of alleged infringement, resulting in a finding of no infringement – a complete win for Verkada.
In addition to Pak, the legal team representing Verkada consisted of Jodie Cheng, Ron Hagiz and Iman Lordgooei.