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AZA Wins Patent Case Judgment Worth $392 Million for Versata Software
September 12, 2011

MARSHALL, Texas – The Houston complex commercial litigation law firm of AZA announces its client Versata Software, Inc., was awarded a judgment worth $392 million in a patent infringement case against global software provider SAP America Inc. and its German-based parent company SAP AG (NYSE: SAP).

Versata, an Austin-based pioneer in front-office enterprise software, first won a smaller verdict against SAP in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas before the Hon. Charles Everingham IV, but the judge set aside that verdict and ordered a new trial on damages. AZA attorneys Demetrios Anaipakos, Amir Alavi and Steven Mitby were retained as co-counsel by Versata a few months before that second trial. The AZA team was charged with developing Versata’s lost profits claim, which had not been presented in the first trial.

The result was a terrific Versata victory. The jurors unanimously awarded Versata $260 million in lost profits and $85 million in reasonable royalties based on the finding that SAP infringed a Versata patent related to pricing technology. The contested Versata patent was issued in 2003 and found to be valid in 2009. The jury also found that SAP continues to infringe Versata’s patent, finding that SAP’s “design around” was ineffective. Due to a notice issue, the judge later reduced the final judgment amount by $16 million, but with $63 million in pre-judgment interest, the total value of the case is $392 million.

“It was challenging and rewarding to work for Versata on this complicated retrial,” says Mr. Anaipakos, a founding member of AZA “This high-dollar judgment is an important patent infringement victory.”

The case is Versata Software Inc., et al. v. SAP America Inc., et al., 07-CV-00153.

AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, intellectual property, securities fraud, construction, and business dispute cases. AZA is one of only 32 firms in the U.S. to be recognized as “awesome opponents” in a nationwide poll of corporate general counsel who were asked to name the law firms they hope their companies never have to face in court. In fact, AZA has been hired on many occasions by the same companies the firm has prevailed against at trial.

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1221 McKinney St, Suite 2500
Houston, TX 77010
(713) 655-1101

© 2024 All rights reserved.

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