GoDaddy's $170 Million Compensation Penalty

GoDaddy, an internet domain registration company, has been ordered to pay 170 million dollars in damages to Express Mobile for violating its rights in web development technology. This decision was announced on Friday by a federal jury in Delaware.

The jury found that GoDaddy’s website design tools infringed upon two patents held by Express Mobile.

GoDaddy stated that it would appeal the decision and announced that it would "vigorously defend itself in court and, if necessary, through the appeals process." Express Mobile attorney Jay Nuttall expressed that this decision is “an excellent result for its customers” and confirmed the value of Express Mobile’s core patents.

Based in Novato, California, Express Mobile owns patents developed for internet and mobile technologies. The company's founder, former IBM engineer Steven Rempell, filed a lawsuit against GoDaddy in 2019, arguing that the company's web development user tools infringed on Express Mobile’s patents related to similar technology.

Based in Tempe, Arizona, GoDaddy denied the allegations, asserting that the patents are invalid. GoDaddy won a separate jury trial related to the Express Mobile infringement claims in 2023.

Additionally, Express Mobile won 40 million dollars in damages in a similar case against the e-commerce platform Shopify in 2022. However, Shopify succeeded in overturning this decision last year before a federal judge in Delaware.