here we go again with software patents -- Jury orders Microsoft to pay more than $520 million

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 17:51 -0700
> From: Sean Peisert <peisert () sdsc edu>
> Subject: SF Gate: Jury orders Microsoft to pay more than $520 million
> Sender: nobody () sfgate com
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
>
>
>
>  Dave: Of pertinent interest to Politech readers (and those of us who work
> for UC). -Sean
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate.
> The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/08/11/national1835EDT0658.DTL
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Monday, August 11, 2003 (AP)
> Jury orders Microsoft to pay more than $520 million
> MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer
>
>
>    (08-11) 16:59 PDT CHICAGO (AP) --
>    A federal jury awarded a software company and the University of California
> more than $520 million in damages Monday after finding that Microsoft
> Corp.'s popular Internet Explorer browser infringed on a patent.
>    Microsoft attorney Andy Culbert said that the jury's finding would be
> appealed.
>    The jury could have awarded as much as $1.2 billion to the university and
> Eolas Technologies Inc., based in Chicago.
>    "We are very satisfied," said Eolas attorney Martin R. Lueck. "It shows
> the jury system works. Patents need to be respected regardless of the size
> and the market power of the company involved."
>    Eolas was launched in 1994 to market technology that allows users to
> access interactive programs embedded in Web pages. Eolas chairman Michael
> Doyle along with two others developed the technology while at the
> University of California at San Francisco. Eolas owns the exclusive rights
> to market the technology, while the university owns the patent.
>    Eolas and the university say Microsoft made their technology part of
> Internet Explorer and bundled it with Windows.
>    Microsoft attorneys argued that the patent was invalid and said that in
> any case their client had never infringed on it. Microsoft said the patent
> described features the technology didn't deliver.
>    Eolas says the patent Microsoft was found to have infringed upon is the
> first browser system that allowed for the embedding of small interactive
> programs such as "plug-ins" or "applets," into World Wide Web documents.
> Such programs are central today to online commerce as they power
> everything from banner ads to interactive customer service.
>    The award of $520.6 million was based on the jury's calculation that $1.47
> per unit represented reasonable royalties for the more than 354 million
> copies of Windows sold from the time the patent was granted in November
> 1998 until September 2001.
>    Eolas and the university had been asking for $3.50 for each unit. The
> average price of Windows during the period was $61, attorneys said.
>    Attorneys said Eolas would receive the lion's share of any damages that
> are eventually paid, but declined to provide the specifics.
>    Microsoft faces more than 30 patent-infringement lawsuits, covering
> digital rights management, online video game software and other
> technologies.
>    Microsoft shares rose 3 cents to close at $25.61 in trading Monday on the
> Nasdaq Stock Market.
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright 2003 AP

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