The Kramer Alberti team secured a significant and strategic win for its client, Polaris PowerLED Technologies, LLC, prevailing in an important claim construction hearing against defendants Microsoft and Dell Technologies. Polaris ran the table, with the court adopting Polaris’ proposed claim construction as to the ten patent claim terms construed, and turning away all arguments advanced by defendants. With this victory, the case will proceed towards trial this coming year. Microsoft and Dell are represented by Covington Burling LLP’s New York and Washington, D.C. offices.

Polaris filed this important patent infringement case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, captioned Polaris v. Microsoft and Dell Technologies, Case No. 1:22-cv-00973-RP in Austin, Texas. The case accuses Microsoft Windows and mostly all Dell notebook computers of infringing Polaris’ pioneering auto brightness patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,223,117 entitled “Method and Apparatus to Control Display Brightness With Ambient Light Correction.”

On February 26, 2025, United States Magistrate Judge Dustin M. Howell conducted a claim construction hearing in a federal courtroom in Austin that was argued by Kramer Alberti partners Robert Kramer, Russell Tonkovich, Nicole Glauser, and senior associate Aidan Brewster. On March 4, 2025, the Court issued its ruling, siding with Polaris and adopting its proposed constructions on all ten patent claim terms, while rejecting all of the defendants’ constructions and arguments.

“This is a major strategic victory for Polaris given the court’s rejection of all ten of the litigation driven claim constructions proposed by Microsoft and Dell,” explained Kramer Alberti partner Robert Kramer, lead counsel for Polaris.  “The case will head to trial this coming year.”

This follows on the significant victory last year that Kramer Alberti secured for Polaris, defeating Microsoft’s ex parte reexam challenge to the validity of Polaris’ ’117 patent. In that decision, the Patent Office upheld the validity of all challenged claims, rejecting Microsoft’s arguments.  Polaris’ ’117 patent also was upheld as valid in 4 prior IPR proceedings conducted by the PTAB in the U.S. Patent Office. Polaris previously litigated the ’117 patent against Samsung in a Texas courtroom resulting in a settlement with Samsung taking a license to the patent.

About Kramer Alberti

Kramer Alberti attorneys are passionate courtroom champions of their clients’ inventions, and nationally known as among the very best and most experienced patent litigators in the country. Founded in 2010, and based in Silicon Valley with attorneys in New York, Austin, and Washington, D.C., the firm is a highly sought-after patent litigation solutions provider representing inventors, technology companies, and universities enforcing their most valuable patents against infringement. With a team of more than 20 technically trained and experienced patent litigation trial attorneys, the firm represents an unrivaled assembly of specialized practitioners.  A frequent recipient of national recognition from and within the legal community, the firm is one of a select few to have been named to both the National Law Journal’s and Texas Lawyer’s list of Top Verdicts. Kramer Alberti is positioned as the firm of choice for plaintiffs seeking large recoveries in patent monetization and clients in need of objective-based IP solutions. For more on Kramer Alberti, please visit www.krameralberti.com

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