Keker, Van Nest & Peters beat back an alleged breach of contract claim before a San Jose federal court jury yesterday for Sunnyvale, California-based electronic design automation (EDA) software company Real Intent, Inc.
Synopsys, Inc. sued Real Intent in April 2020, claiming that Real Intent infringed Synopsys’s copyrights related to EDA software products used in the design and verification of integrated circuits (ICs). Synopsys also alleged that Real Intent breached several contractual agreements between the two companies by copying certain commands from Synopsys's software. The Keker team won a sweeping victory on the copyright infringement claims at summary judgment in August 2024, prevailing on the copyright defense of fair use, while the contract claim remained in the case. Synopsys alleged substantial contract damages as the case proceeded to trial.
The jury awarded nominal damages to Synopsys ($550,000) on the breach of contract claim, far less than Synopsys had pursued at trial.
“We are pleased that the jury recognized that Synopsys’s claims were excessive,” Keker, Van Nest & Peters partner Bob Van Nest and lead counsel for Real Intent said. “I’m incredibly proud of this talented trial team.”
The case is Synopsys, Inc. v. Real Intent, Inc. 5:20-cv-02819, in the Northern District of California before Judge Edward Davila. The Keker, Van Nest & Peters team representing Real Intent includes Bob Van Nest, Reid Mullen, Ryan Wong, Cody Gray, Kristin Hucek, Bilal Malik, Victor Chiu, Catherine Porto, Elizabeth Heckmann, and Theresa Dawson.