Judge Juan R. Sánchez of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled on September 14, 2026 that Comcast is precluded, under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, from arguing that US Patent No. 6,513,063, referred to in the litigation as "Julia," is "but-for material" to Promptu's asserted patent, either alone or combined with another prior patent called "Houser." The ruling arises ahead of a bench trial on Comcast's counterclaim that Promptu engaged in inequitable conduct before the Patent and Trademark Office by not disclosing Julia during prosecution. The court found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, in inter partes review proceedings, had already rejected Comcast's argument that Julia rendered the relevant patent claim obvious, a decision the Federal Circuit affirmed in 2021, and that Comcast was fully represented in those proceedings. Because the materiality question in the inequitable conduct trial turns on the same obviousness analysis the board already decided against Comcast, the court held the issue cannot be relitigated. The ruling follows a January 2026 jury verdict that found Comcast willfully infringed one of Promptu's voice recognition patents and awarded Promptu 240 million dollars, a verdict Comcast has separately sought to challenge.