On February 26, 2025, the case Best Carpet Values Inc. et al. v. Google LLC, led by Wilson Sonsini, was recognized among Daily Journal's "Top Verdicts of 2024," an annual list that highlights California's top verdicts based on dollar amounts, impact, defense victories, and appellate reversals.

The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Google in a case centered around allegations that Google violated property rights of U.S.-based website owners. The plaintiffs aimed to represent a nationwide class of website owners, bringing forth state-law claims for trespass to chattels, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition. Although Google's initial motion to dismiss these claims was denied, a Wilson Sonsini team, led by Fred Rowley, successfully secured certification for an interlocutory appeal, obtained a stay of proceedings, and gained permission to proceed with the appeal.

In the accompanying profile, Fred notes, "The case raised novel questions about the application of state property law to the internet and carried potentially sweeping ramifications for Google's core business and broader landscape of internet services." Following extensive briefing, Fred delivered an oral argument before the Ninth Circuit panel, which ultimately reversed the district court’s decision.

Fred underscored the necessity of convincing the Ninth Circuit that adopting the plaintiff's claims would create chaos by distorting established property law principles and allowing plaintiffs to circumvent the limitations of copyright law. This ruling has already influenced six district court decisions concerning property rights in digital content and copyright preemption.

In the profile, Wilson Sonsini partner David Kramer remarks on the challenges of clearly and effectively conveying technology-related issues to the courts. "When your practice focuses on technology-related matters, familiarity and fluency with the technology can be easy to take for granted," David said. "Here, we took pains to be clear about how websites are displayed, how our client's service functioned and the technological context for browsing the internet on a mobile device. We also made effective use of images in our briefing to illustrate how the websites appeared and how their display would change."

Click here to view Daily Journal’s complete profile of the case.