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In the high-stakes chessboard of wireless communications, a $175 million verdict against Verizon has jolted the industry into swift settlements. AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile have reached an agreement to resolve separate patent infringement suits brought by Headwater Research LLC, avoiding the courtroom battles that had been set to unfold within days.

The settlements come just weeks after a Texas federal jury found Verizon liable for infringing two Headwater patents tied to wireless communication technology—patents also at the heart of AT&T’s pending trial.

Settlements on the Eve of Trial

Headwater, AT&T, and T-Mobile each filed motions Tuesday announcing the truce. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap granted the stay request for Headwater and AT&T the same day. Counsel for all parties stayed silent on the finer points of the deal.

The clock had been ticking loudly—Headwater’s trial against T-Mobile was set to begin Friday, with AT&T’s trial following immediately after on Thursday. By settling, both telecom giants sidestepped the potential of another multi-million-dollar damages award akin to Verizon’s bruising loss.

A String of Victories for Headwater

The Verizon verdict isn’t Headwater’s only recent win. In April, another Texas jury awarded the company $279 million from Samsung for infringing two different patents related to mobile devices and smart TVs. However, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board later invalidated one of those patents as “obvious.”

The patents central to the AT&T and T-Mobile disputes are U.S. Patent Nos. 8,924,543; 9,198,042; 8,589,541; and 9,215,613.

Legal Heavyweights on All Sides

Headwater’s legal arsenal came from Russ August & Kabat, including Marc Fenster, Adam Hoffman, Benjamin Wang, and others.
T-Mobile’s defense was mounted by attorneys from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Hogan Lovells US LLP, while AT&T leaned on the powerhouse team from McKool Smith PC.

With trials now off the docket, the legal storm subsides—for now—but in the world of high-tech patents, calm rarely lasts long.