McKool Smith, PC, the national intellectual property and commercial litigation firm, is announcing a federal court decision upholding a $21 million patent infringement verdict in favor of Tyler, Texas-based Anascape Ltd. against Redmond, Wash.-based Nintendo of America Inc., a subsidiary of Japan’s Nintendo Co. Ltd. (NTDOY).

On June 26, the Hon. Ron Clark of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division, denied the defendant’s motion for a reduced verdict, finding that the jury’s award is supported by the evidence.

The verdict handed down May 14, 2008, concluded nearly two years of litigation over a series of protected Anascape patents related to video game controllers. The jury found that various controllers sold by Nintendo, including the GameCube controller, GameCube Wavebird controller, Wii Classic controller and Wii Remote, infringed Anascape’s patents.

"We appreciate the Court’s thoughtful consideration in upholding the jury’s decision," says Doug Cawley, principal at McKool Smith and lead counsel for Anascape. "Although not a giant corporation like Nintendo, Anascape has every right to protect its technology."

Anascape was represented during the trial by a team of attorneys from McKool Smith and Tyler, Texas-based Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth. The McKool Smith team included Mr. Cawley, firm principals Sam Baxter and Ted Stevenson, and firm associates Chris Bovenkamp, Steven Callahan, Jason Cassady, Anthony Garza, and Jamie Shouse. The Parker, Bunt team included Robert M. Parker, Christopher Bunt and Charles Ainsworth.

McKool Smith has more than 95 attorneys handling commercial and intellectual property litigation for national and international clients, including Fortune 500 companies, universities, start-ups, and individuals. The firm is recognized as one of the premier litigation and trial firms in the United States, having earned significant courtroom victories for clients such as American Airlines, Electronic Data Systems, BearingPoint, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Medtronic Inc. and National Instruments.

See the full decision here