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In a stunning courtroom showdown, a Delaware federal jury has ordered GoDaddy to pay $170 million after finding that the domain-hosting giant willfully infringed two Express Mobile patents tied to website-building technology.

The verdict, delivered Friday, concluded that GoDaddy violated U.S. Patent Nos. 6,546,397 and 7,594,168, both covering methods for constructing websites. The jury’s decision carried a heavy blow, assigning $100 million in royalties through December 2, 2019, and another $70 million for the period between December 2019 and December 2022.

Express Mobile Declares Victory in Patent Battle

“This is an outstanding result for our client that confirms the value of Express Mobile’s foundational patents,” said Jay Nuttall, lead counsel for Express Mobile and partner at Steptoe LLP. “We are proud to have helped our client achieve this outcome through a total team effort.”

The case highlights the increasingly high stakes of intellectual property litigation in the technology sector, where the right innovation can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars — or more.

GoDaddy Pushes Back, Vows to Appeal

GoDaddy, however, made it clear that it strongly disagrees with the jury’s finding and plans to challenge the ruling.

“We intend to vigorously fight it in the district court and on appeal, if necessary,” a GoDaddy spokesperson told Law360. “Our dedicated employees independently built our website builder from the ground up, furthering our mission of empowering entrepreneurs and making opportunity inclusive for all.”

The company maintains that no infringement occurred and insists that its technology was developed entirely in-house.

Legal Teams and Case Background

The patents at issue — U.S. Patent Nos. 6,546,397 and 7,594,168 — cover software innovations that simplify the process of building web pages using modular components, a technology that Express Mobile argues forms the backbone of many modern website builders.

Express Mobile was represented by a powerhouse legal team including Timothy Devlin of Devlin Law Firm LLC, and Jay Nuttall, Michael Dockterman, John Abramic, Katherine Tellez, Robert Kappers, Daniel Gelwicks, Candice Kwark, and Christopher Suarez of Steptoe LLP.

GoDaddy’s defense was led by Beth Moskow-Schnoll, Alan Cardenas-Moreno, Brian LaCorte, Andrea Stone, Andrew Hensley, Doyle Tuvesson, Richard Miller, and Samhitha Medatia of Ballard Spahr LLP.

A Landmark IP Decision With Ripple Effects

The GoDaddy express Mobile Patent Suit underscores the growing tension between established tech firms and smaller innovators claiming ownership of core web technologies. With $170 million now on the line and an appeal looming, the ruling could set a pivotal precedent in the ongoing battle over digital innovation and patent rights in the U.S. tech industry.