Judge Gilstrap finds Verizon reasonably expected not to get sued by Headwater (in which it invested), tosses $175M jury verdict

Judge Gilstrap’s passion for patent law is evidenced by how he uses “to teach away” in a context in which it is highly uncommon terminology.

Context:

Headwater is a very active patent enforcer. Two important jurisdictions in which Headwater has sued are the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (September 22, 2025 ip fray article) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC), though it has yet to win a case in the latter (July 30, 2025 ip fray article).
In Judge Rodney Gilstrap’s court in the Eastern District of Texas, patent holders have obtained many favorable rulings, but defendants have also prevailed on important motions, such as Apple after the first Optis trial (now there is another retrial request, but by Optis: April 10, 2026 ip fray article).
In the summer, a jury had awarded Headwater $175M in patent infringement damages against mobile carrier Verizon:

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Counsel

Verizon is being represented by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s Josh Krevitt (lead counsel), Michelle Zhu, Allen Kathir, Andrew William Robb, Katherine Dominguez, and Brian Ashley Rosenthal; and Hogan Lovells’s Celine Jimenez Crowson, Jiaxing (Kyle) Xu, Yi (Sally) Zhang, Gurtej Singh, Jaysen S. Chung, and Joseph J. Raffetto; The Dacus Firm‘s Deron R. Dacus; and Gish PLLC’s Ryan Iwahashi.