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Jury Awards $40 Million in Trade Secrets Trial

A trade secrets lawsuit centered on innovative semiconductor technology ended last week in a $40 million jury verdict against defendant XP Power LLC, leading to a motion for permanent injunction that's pending in front of the trial judge.

The verdict, which includes $20 million in punitive damages, occurred on the eighth day of a trial that pitted Kirkland & Ellis against Latham & Watkins, with Latham representing XP and Kirkland representing Comet Technologies USA and Yxlon International GmbH. Comet is a leader in the area of radio-frequency power technology, and it supplies semiconductor processing equipment around the world. XP denied any liability, and said it developed its radio-frequency generator and related network technologies on its own.