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Successful Appeal for Microsoft in Uniloc Patent Dispute as Bilski Looms
On September 29, 2009, Microsoft won its appeal to the U.S. District Court in the District of Rhode Island, overturning a jury award of $388 Million for willful infringement of U.S. Patent 5,490,216 (the “’216 Patent”) in a long running dispute with Uniloc. The dispute was with regards to the alleged infringement by Microsoft of anti-piracy registration systems patents which are used in Windows XP and certain Microsoft Office related products.
The District Court focused on the distinction between the End User License Agreement used by Microsoft to create the legal relationship in its registration scheme and the digital license issued at the server authentication side, as the reason why Microsoft did not directly infringe the claims of the ‘216 Patent. The issue of willful infringement was also addressed, and the court determined that Microsoft was not reckless or willful, and that even if there was infringement, there was no reasonable basis on which a jury could so decide. The patent was upheld as valid, as it was open to the jury to conclude that it was neither anticipated nor obvious. Non-patentable subject matter was not at issue.
In the background lies the specter of an expected decision of the certiorari hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court, In re Bilski, which deals with the validity of “business method patents”, and will either affirm the profound effect the current status in Bilski has had on patent validity in the U.S., or will create its own profound effect.
For a copy of the decision (United States District Court, District of Rhode Island), visit: