Finnegan Team Secures $240M Jury Verdict After PTAB Success

Managing IP profiled Finnegan’s recent $240 million jury victory for Promptu Systems in its long‑running patent infringement case against Comcast. A Pennsylvania federal jury found that Comcast willfully infringed Promptu’s voice‑recognition patents, marking the culmination of nearly a decade of litigation that included eight failed PTAB challenges and a successful Federal Circuit appeal correcting overly restrictive claim constructions.

In the interview, Finnegan partner Jacob Schroeder, who represented Promptu, described how the team approached the case. He explained, “We prepared for the trial as we do in every trial. We assembled an extraordinary team of capable partners and associates who worked together as a team to identify our core themes and divided those responsibilities among the team on both an issue-by-issue basis and a witness-by-witness basis.” Jacob emphasized the team’s cohesion, noting that they “were closely coordinated on any strategy that would impact the case so that each team member knew their role, knew how their part fitted into the broader case, and was aware of the testimony and evidence needed for other aspects of the case.”

He also underscored Finnegan’s client‑first approach, stating that “our focus has always been on obtaining the best objective for our clients on the matters they trust us to handle for them,” and that the verdict “proved that we were on the right side of the law and that we pursued a sound strategy.”

Reflecting on challenges, Jacob noted that “one of the most significant challenges involved the passage of time,” including the loss of a company co‑founder and the need to show the jury that Promptu “never slept on its rights.” He credited early engineers and executives whose testimony helped convey the company’s story and the significance of its foundational patents.

Even with the complexities of a long‑running case, Jacob said the team’s preparation allowed them to “pressure test our overall theme and theory of the case and to fine‑tune the specific presentations we needed to advance at trial.” Looking ahead, he confirmed that “we still have post‑trial motions to prepare, as well as the inevitable appeal.”

The Finnegan team included Jacob Schroeder, Gerald Ivey, John Williamson, Christopher Blackford, Benjamin Schlesinger, Cara Regan, Jeffrey Totten, and Daniel Klodowski.

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