Overview
(November 14, 2025, Chicago, IL) — The Steptoe IP team secured a landmark victory for our client, Express Mobile, Inc., in a high-stakes patent infringement case against GoDaddy.com, culminating in a jury verdict awarding $170 million in damages. The win marks a pivotal moment in the enforcement of foundational web-design patents and underscores Steptoe's significant capabilities in intellectual property litigation. As a result, the team was recognized as a runner-up in The AmLaw Litigation Daily Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs.
The case centers on two patents, US Patent Nos. 6,546,397 and 7,594,168, dating back to an application filed in 1999, which are widely recognized as foundational to modern web design and development technology. Express Mobile alleged that GoDaddy's popular Website Builder product infringed these patents.
After six years of litigation, including a successful appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit earlier this year, the case proceeded to trial in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. On November 6, following only a few hours of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Express Mobile, finding that GoDaddy willfully infringed Express Mobile’s patents and awarding the full amount of damages Express Mobile requested.
Steptoe's trial team included Jay Nuttall, John Abramic, Robert Kappers, Kate Tellez, Christopher Suarez, and Candice Kwark.
About Steptoe
In more than 110 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
