Goldman Ismail Wins Motion to Dismiss In Uniloc Patent Litigation, Impacting Dozens of Cases Nationwide

Goldman Ismail recently scored a major victory as lead counsel in ten patent infringement cases brought by one of the country’s most prolific patent plaintiffs, Uniloc, against a Fortune 10 American consumer electronics company. Led by Doug Winnard and Mike Pieja, the team at Goldman Ismail unearthed standing issues based on a complex web of licensing and financial agreements involving Uniloc and its lender.  After discovery and multiple rounds of argument at the trial and appellate levels, including on constitutional issues of first impression, on December 4, 2020, Judge Alsup of the Northern District of California granted a motion to dismiss filed by the Goldman Ismail team, finding that Uniloc lacked Article III standing to bring its claims. The ruling undermines Uniloc’s ability to prosecute dozens of cases it has filed nationwide, derailing Uniloc’s overall litigation campaign. Several defendants around the country have since emulated the strategy developed by the team at Goldman Ismail, putting still more Uniloc cases at risk.

Doug Winnard and Michael Pieja serve as lead counsel for the Goldman Ismail team. Other team members include Alan Littmann, Emma Ross, Lauren Abendshien, Shaun Zhang, and Whitney Woodward. The relevant case is Uniloc USA Inc et al v. Apple Inc., N.D. Cal. Case No. 3:18-cv-00358-WHA.

Press coverage of the Northern District of California decision is available here.