Peter J. Wied

What do you focus on?

Patent Litigation

I focus my practice on helping technology companies resolve their patent litigation disputes efficiently and cost-effectively. While I have represented clients in cases before U.S. district courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in international arbitration, I also realize that not every matter should be brought to trial. Leveraging my physics background and experience, I help my clients develop winning strategies in complex cases that reflect their business objectives.

Patent Prosecution and Counseling

I counsel my clients on strategic portfolio management and maintenance. In addition, I have represented several clients during United States Patent and Trademark Office proceedings.

What do you see on the horizon?

As global markets and supply chains become more integrated, more and more foreign companies are becoming involved in patent disputes in the United States, and are starting to build up their own intellectual property portfolios.

There is an ongoing shift in where disputes are being resolved, whether through arbitration rather than traditional litigation, through the Patent Office rather than the district courts via IPRs, or even just in different district courts as the result of new venue rules. Both plaintiffs and defendants need to be aware of these shifts to position themselves advantageously.

Representative Experience

• Represent The Regents of the University of California in a groundbreaking patent enforcement campaign to protect its rights in a revolutionary new generation of light bulb technology known as filament LED that was invented by a Nobel laureate-led team at UC Santa Barbara. As the accused products are made by foreign manufacturers, this campaign is brought against major U.S. retailers in parallel proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
• Represented AU Optronics, a Taiwanese LCD manufacturer, in a patent infringement case. After a bench trial, the court held that the plaintiff had not established infringement of any of the four patents and rejected LG Display’s $700 million damage claim. LG Display v. AU Optronics (D. Delaware).
• Represented Quanta Computer Incorporated in a patent infringement case involving six patents, from the district court through appeals to the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. Obtained a unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court affirming the doctrine of patent exhaustion. Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics (U.S. Supreme Court).
• Represented a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer in an unprecedented arbitration in Hong Kong regarding the infringement of two U.S. patents. (Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre)
• Represented Quanta Computer Incorporated, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of notebook computers and other electronic hardware, in a patent infringement case. The Federal Circuit agreed with Quanta, erasing the $8.5 million award. LaserDynamics v. Quanta Computer (Fed. Cir.).
• Represented Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company, related to a novel issue regarding the award of post-verdict, ongoing royalties. Mondis Technologies v. Hon Hai Precision Industry (Fed. Cir.).
• Represented Nortel Networks Corporation, a multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer, in an appeal affirming a sales tax refund of over $30 million and invalidated a state regulation on the taxation of software, based on patent and copyright issues. Nortel Networks v. Board of Equalization (Cal. App. 2d).