[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

A United States District Judge has ordered Gabriel Technologies to pay more than $12,400,000 in attorneys’ fees for pursuing objectively baseless claims against Qualcomm.

The complaint, filed in October 2008, asserted eleven causes of action against Qualcomm and focused on allegations that Gabriel had ownership rights to numerous Qualcomm patents relating to GPS technologies; Gabriel sought one billion dollars in damages. Several of Gabriel’s claims were dismissed early in the lengthy litigation, and the Court recently granted Qualcomm summary judgment on the remaining claims.

The Court noted in its Order that it warned Gabriel early on in the proceedings that the claims lacked merit, but Gabriel pursued the litigation for an extended period of time without being able to remedy basic deficiencies, such as the inability to name alleged inventors to support claims of inventorship or identify trade secrets to support claims of misappropriation.

On October 12, 2012, Qualcomm filed a motion for attorneys’ fees, nearly all of which were awarded.

Qualcomm is represented by Cooley.

Upload: 02-14-12