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Houston’s AZA Law Firm Helps Versata Software Win $345 Million Patent Infringement Verdict
May 16, 2011

MARSHALL, Texas – The Houston complex commercial litigation law firm of AZA successfully represented Austin, Texas-based Versata Software Inc. in a $345 million patent infringement verdict against global software provider SAP America Inc. (NYSE: SAP) and its German-based parent company SAP AG.

Versata, a pioneer in front-office enterprise software, originally 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. The judge set aside that verdict and ordered a new trial on damages.

AZA attorneys Demetrios AnaipakosAmir Alavi and Steven Mitby were retained as co-counsel by Versata a few months before the 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 huge victory for Versata. 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.

“We were thrilled to work with Versata during the retrial on damages. Versata’s team was top-notch, and the tremendous result speaks for itself,” says Mr. Anaipakos, a founding member of AZA. The verdict in Versata Software Inc., et al. v. SAP America Inc., et al., 07-CV-00153, was handed down May 13, 2011.

AZA 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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Houston, TX 77010
(713) 655-1101

© 2024 All rights reserved.

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