DALLAS – Attorneys Richard A. “Dick” Sayles and Mark. S. Werbner of Dallas’ Sayles Werbner will be presenting arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on March 31 for firm client Commil USA in one of the top patent cases of 2015.

Sayles Werbner is asking the nation’s highest court to reverse a lower court ruling that invalidated a $74 million patent infringement judgment won in 2011 on behalf of Commil, a technology company based in The Woodlands, Texas. The multimillion-dollar judgment against computer networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was issued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, one of the nation’s busiest patent jurisdictions.

“We look forward to representing our client before the U.S. Supreme Court, and we expect a ruling in Commil’s favor like we’ve already seen with two separate federal court juries,” says Sayles, who regularly handles patent cases in the Eastern District along with Mr. Werbner and other firm attorneys.

Commil originally sued Cisco in 2007 based on the alleged infringement of a Commil patent used in wireless-transmission technology, U.S. Patent No. 6,430,395. After jurors found that Cisco induced infringement of Commil’s patent, Cisco appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which handles patent infringement appeals for U.S. courts.

The Federal Circuit vacated the $74 million judgment, holding that a good faith belief in the patent’s invalidity was relevant to the infringer’s conduct. The controversial ruling was criticized for creating a new patent infringement defense unsupported by law and in conflict with the U.S. Patent Act, which presumes all patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are valid. The U.S. Solicitor General and the USPTO have supported Commil’s appeal with their own filings before the Supreme Court.

“We don’t think a company should be able to avoid liability for actively inducing patent infringement by simply claiming a belief that a patent is invalid,” says Werbner. “Saying ‘I don’t think the law is valid’ isn’t an acceptable defense in this case or any other.”

In addition to Sayles Werbner, Commil is represented by attorneys Leslie V. Payne, Nathan J. Davis and Miranda Y. Jones from Houston’s Heim, Payne & Chorush. The related cases are Commil USA LLC v. Cisco Systems Inc., No. 13-896, and Cisco Systems Inc. v. Commil USA LLC, No. 13-1044.

Sayles Werbner has an international reputation as a “go to” trial law firm in multifaceted business litigation, intellectual property, patent litigation, life-altering personal injury cases, product safety lawsuits and other areas of the law.