Historic Patent Verdict Against Apple Is One of Seven Quinn Emanuel Victories in Banner Week

What a week. Quinn Emanuel is thrilled to celebrate an extraordinary run of seven litigation and arbitration victories in five days, including three bet-the-company wins that will be remembered for years to come.

From a historic $5.7 billion patent jury verdict against Apple – the largest in U.S. history – to a complete defense win that saved three Silicon Valley founders from losing everything, to a $90 million verdict against the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, our teams last week delivered spectacular results for our clients when it mattered most. It was the same week we were named the Most Feared law firm for the fifth year in a row, and opposing counsel can see why.

The world’s biggest disputes-only firm, Quinn Emanuel is the first call when the stakes are high, and rapid-fire runs of headline-making wins aren’t unusual around here. Still, it’s hard to imagine a more remarkable week, and we could not be prouder of the lawyers who made it happen. We’re Most Feared, and most respected, by our adversaries because there is no fear within the firm. That deep trust is how our teams do their best work, and how we keep on winning for our clients.

Largest Patent Verdict in U.S. History

On September 25 we secured the largest patent jury verdict in United States history. The jurors, in San Diego federal court, found that Apple owes headphone maker Taction Technology $5.7 billion for infringing two patents covering the touch vibration technology behind Apple’s Taptic Engine. The jury found that Apple infringed both U.S. Patent No. 10,659,885 and U.S. Patent No. 10,820,117, rejecting Apple's invalidity defenses. The verdict caps a 5 1/2-year fight that began when Taction sued in 2021. The suit survived a summary judgment loss, revived on appeal by the Federal Circuit in 2025. The team was led by Tigran Guledjian, Scott Watson, and Lance Yang.

Total Defense Victory for Silicon Valley Start-Up

In a JAMS arbitration, Quinn Emanuel secured an across-the-board defense victory for Tessell, a venture-backed start-up that helps companies port and manage their databases in the public cloud, and its three founders. Cloud company Nutanix sought more than $100 million in damages and a constructive trust over the founders’ equity, effectively seeking to strip them of their company. Not one of Nutanix’s claims – trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, breach of contract, tortious interference, and breach of fiduciary duty – survived. The arbitrator found “no significant evidence” supporting Nutanix’s theories and dismissed every claim with prejudice. The team was led by Kevin Johnson, Todd Briggs, Andrew Bramhall, and Valerie Lozano.

$90 Million Verdict Against Eli Lilly

A federal jury in San Francisco awarded Nektar Therapeutics $90 million against Eli Lilly, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, on September 24. The jurors found that Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in connection with the companies’ joint development of Rezpeg (rezpegaldesleukin), a treatment for autoimmune disorders. Nektar had alleged that Lilly intentionally delayed the drug’s development to favor a competing product Lilly had acquired, harming Nektar’s interest in a fast development timeline to market. The trial team was led by Diane Doolittle, Christopher Tayback, and Jimmy Bieber, together with Yury Kapgan, David Elihu, Julia Choe, and Suong Nguyen.

More Victories This Week

Quinn Emanuel’s winning week didn’t stop there.

• Anthony Sinclair led a complete victory over a billion-dollar claim against the Republic of Azerbaijan under the Iran-Azerbaijan bilateral investment treaty in Bahari v. Azerbaijan. The claimant, an Iranian businessman who cast himself as the financier behind a Caspian caviar operation and as a collector of rare antique carpets, alleged that Azerbaijani officials had expropriated his business interests. The tribunal found instead that he had fabricated documents and submitted them in support of his case, and concluded that his pursuit of the claims amounted to an abuse of process. His claims were dismissed in their entirety. The team also included Hafsa Zayyan, Epaminontas Triantafilou, and Stephen Jagusch.
• Quinn Emanuel represented Fortis Advisors in an action against Carl Zeiss Meditec to enforce certain post-closing payment obligations owed to the former shareholders of medical device startup Iantech, Inc., the developer of a potentially disruptive technology in cataract removal surgery. Zeiss acquired Iantech in 2018. It agreed to pay Iantech $110 million at closing and to make substantial additional payments to Iantech’s shareholders upon its achievement of certain milestones. In February 2024 Fortis filed a complaint alleging that Zeiss had breached the agreement. The case was tried in Delaware Superior Court in February and March 2026. On September 23 the court issued its verdict, finding in favor of Fortis on its claim related to the milestone payment and awarding damages of more than $19 million including pre-judgment interest. The team was led by Andrew Berdon, Joe Paunovich, Jimmy Bieber, and Michael Barlow.
• A Quinn Emanuel team led by Jennifer Barrett and Kevin Reed won a complete defense judgment in an arbitration on behalf of our client, a global investment company. The claimant, a former senior private equity partner, asserted an eight-figure damages claim for forfeited equity and carried interest plus reinstatement of his right to future earnings. After a one-week hearing, the arbitrator rejected his claims, agreeing that he had no contractual right to his forfeited interests and that his own bad acts barred any equitable claims.
• Rachel Kassabian, Kevin Teruya, Brantley Pepperman, and the rest of the Quinn Emanuel team defeated the second and final motion to dismiss our client WP Engine’s massive claims for federal and state antitrust violations. This gratifying win came after these claims were previously dismissed with leave to amend. The case concerns the defendants’ self-described “nuclear war” launched against WP Engine, with their stated goal of destroying it “brick by brick,” for its refusal to capitulate to their monopolistic monetary demands. WP Engine’s antitrust claims are based on the defendants’ abuse of their power over the WordPress ecosystem to punish a competitor, increase prices and costs, decrease quality, and harm competition in multiple relevant markets, affecting billions of dollars in commerce. This win is particularly important to consumers because the WordPress open source software powers over 40% of all websites on the internet.

What It Says About Quinn Emanuel

Taken together, these seven results — three bet-the-company victories and four additional wins for other valued clients — reflect the range and depth of Quinn Emanuel’s trial and arbitration practices, spanning patent law, trade secrets, life sciences, antitrust, investment treaty arbitration, and complex commercial litigation across multiple courts and forums. Each of these matters was critical to our clients, and each was won by a team that prepared relentlessly and executed under pressure. We are enormously proud of every attorney and staff member who contributed to this memorable week.