Cisco owes nearly $66 mln in audio-conferencing patent case, jury says

By Blake Brittain

Aug 30 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems CSCO.O must pay video group-chat app maker Paltalk PALT.O $65.7 million for infringing a patent related to audio conferencing, a jury in Texas federal court said on Thursday.

The jury determined that Cisco's WebEx web-conferencing products violated Paltalk's patent rights in audio-server technology for teleconferencing.

A Cisco spokesperson said on Friday that the company would challenge the verdict in post-trial motions and will appeal if . Paltalk attorneys Max Tribble and Kalpana Srinivasan of Susman Godfrey said in a statement that they were "thrilled" with the verdict.

New York-based Paltalk's stock was down 37% to $3.45 per share on Friday afternoon despite the verdict. The company said in a press release on Friday that it estimated it would eventually "receive more than one third of the gross proceeds" from the award.

Paltalk filed the lawsuit against San Jose, California-based Cisco in Waco, Texas, federal court in 2021. Cisco denied the allegations and argued that the patent was invalid.

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright rejected Cisco's request for a mistrial on Thursday, which Cisco had argued was after Albright "changed course" at the beginning of the trial on how a key part of the patent would be interpreted.

The case is Paltalk Holdings Inc v. Cisco Systems Inc, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 6:21-cv-00757.

For Paltalk: Max Tribble, Kalpana Srinivasan and Ryan Caughey of Susman Godfrey

For Cisco: Sarah Piepmeier, Elise Edlin, Robin Brewer, Nathan Sabri, Ryan Hawkins and Andrew Dufresne of Perkins Coie

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)

((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))