Jury Awards Carnegie Mellon University $1.16 Billion in Patent Lawsuit

A jury has awarded Carnegie Mellon University more than $1.16 billion in a patent infringement lawsuit against a tech firm based in Santa Clara, California. An appeal is expected, but if the verdict stands this could be the largest patent infringement award in U.S. history.

Gloves Off in Dispute Over Hockey Bag

Hockey fans will enjoy this story about two Canadian inventors suing a company for allegedly copying the design of their patented hockey equipment bag: Dropping the gloves over a hockey bag, Globe and Mail, Dec. 16, 2010.

The bag is patented in Canada (CA 2145612) and the US (US 5,797,612). The US patent has been cited by at least 25 patents.

"Investing in patents is no country for old men."

... That's the message one pundit sees in this week's patent infringement ruling against Microsoft. The article makes some interesting points about the cost of litigating a patent lawsuit and speculates on why Microsoft (or any high tech company) might chance a lawsuit rather than license a new and unproven technology.

i4i won a huge legal victory. But at what cost?
Fabrice Taylor
Globe and Mail, Aug. 14, 2009