Volume VII

Issue : 13: September 24, 2009

• Microsoft Loses Patent Infringement Appeal but Damages Award to be Reduced
• State of Virginia Backs Off Demand for Facebook User Data
• Court Rules on Prospect of Liability for Linking to Allegedly Defamatory Content
• Malicious Online Advertising Brings Microsoft Suit
• Canadas Privacy Watchdogs Wary of Proposed Surveillance Laws
• FCC Releases Net Neutrality Rules
• Copyright Infringement Suit Brought Against the Ellen DeGeneres Show

Home > Volume VII > Issue 13: September 24, 2009 > Microsoft Loses Patent Infringement Appeal but Damages Award to be Reduced

Microsoft Loses Patent Infringement Appeal but Damages Award to be Reduced

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld a decision of the district court that a component of Microsoft Outlook infringed a patent owned by Alcatel-Lucent. The patent, which covers a method of entering information into fields on a computer screen without using a keyboard, was incorporated into the “date-picker” calendar tool in Microsoft Outlook. Damages were assessed at trial based on 8 percent of the revenue of Microsoft’s sales. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals found this to be disproportionately high, given that the “date-picker” calendar tool was a tiny piece of a large and complex software program, and there was no evidence of widespread use of the infringing tool by customers. The calculation of damages was sent back to the district court for redetermination.

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10351104-38.html