Houston Complex Commercial Litigation Firm AZA Wins One of Nation’s Top 10 Verdicts of 2011

HOUSTON – A $345 million patent infringement verdict won by Houston’s Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing PC, or AZA, on behalf of Austin, Texas-based Versata Software Inc. is ranked as the eighth-largest verdict in the United States during 2011, based on nationwide data compiled by American Lawyer Media’s Verdict Search.

The verdict in Versata Software Inc., et al. v. SAP America Inc., et al., 07-CV-00153, also ranks as the nation’s fifth-largest intellectual property verdict in 2011.

An industry leader in front-office enterprise software, Versata sued SAP America Inc. (NYSE: SAP) and its German-based parent company SAP AG over infringement of a patent related to pricing technology.

In a verdict issued May 13, 2011, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas unanimously awarded Versata $260 million in lost profits and $85 million in reasonable royalties after finding that SAP continued to infringe the Versata patent and that SAP’s “design around” was ineffective. The total award came in at slightly less than $392 million after the court made adjustments to the verdict amount and added prejudgment interest.

Versata won an earlier verdict against SAP in 2009, but U.S. District Judge Charles Everingham IV set aside that verdict and ordered a new trial on damages. The company brought in AZA attorneys Demetrios Anaipakos, Amir Alavi and Steven Mitby shortly before the second trial to develop Versata’s lost profits claim, which was not presented in the first trial.

“This case is a terrific example of the trial skills and expertise at the firm,” says John Zavitsanos, a founding partner in AZA. “We were hired on the eve of trial, and Demetrios, Amir and Steve came through in a big way for our client.”

The VerdictSearch Top 100 Verdicts of 2011 is included as a special section in The National Law Journal.

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. Read more at https://azalaw.com.