Aussie inventor's $445m judgment against Microsoft wiped out

[depakid]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

An Australian inventor, who was set to reap the lion's share of a mammoth $US388 million ($445 million) damages award from Microsoft, is now set to get nothing after the US judge hearing the case decided to ignore the jury's decision and hand victory to Microsoft.

Ric Richardson, who divides his time between Northern Rivers in NSW and California, is the founder of Uniloc, which sued Microsoft in 2003 for violating its patent relating to technology designed to deter software piracy. The company alleged Microsoft earned billions of dollars by using the technology in its Windows XP and Office programs.

In April, a Rhode Island jury found Microsoft had violated the patent and told Microsoft to pay the company $US388 million, one of the largest patent jury awards in US history. But on Tuesday in the US (today Australian time), US District Judge William Smith "vacated" the jury's verdict and ruled in favour of Microsoft.

In a telephone interview, Richardson appeared dumbfounded by the decision. "It's such a shock that I really have to have my lawyers unravel this mess for me," he said, adding he could not comment further before taking legal advice. "It was never about the money. It was about the ethics of it ... winning a court case is not winning the lottery."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/biz-tech/aussie-inventors-445m-microsoft-windfall-wiped-out-20090930-gc77.html

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Wow. I hope he can appeal that.

[Eric J in MN]

2. The appeals court ordered the judge to hear from a jury,

...and then he didn't like the jury's conclusions and competely voided them.

I doubt that was the intent of the appeals court.

[rfranklin]

4. That judge should be investigated....

I suspect you would find a large paper bag of cash with Bill Gates fingerprints on it.

[Lerkfish]

5. yup, my first thought.

[meegbear]

3. That ain't right!

:grr:

[Vidar]

6. Microsoft corruption at work!

[Ghost Dog]

11. Too big to fail.

Anti-Trust requiem en pace.

Feel need to play opening scenes of Blade Runner again.

Who updates the updaters?

[TheEuclideanOne]

7. It was never about the money.

That may or may not be true, but imagine one day finding that you had a half-billion dollars and just lost it. Wow, how that must suck!

[PJPhreak]

8. besides all of MS's security issues...

This is one of the biggest reasons I am a "Windows User in Recovery"



Microshit=EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!!

[Born Free]

22. I never got on the Windows band wagon..

We were from the other camp, used OS/2 before we switched to Penguin Power in '98

[Gator_Matt]

9. In all fairness, the jury may have applied the patent too liberally

That is why you have appeals court. There is a lot of technical information that lay juries simply won't understand. Certain judges do have more training in this matter, which might be the case here.

Once again, I don't know the facts, and I'm sure this will be rightfully scrutinized, but I wouldn't immediately condemn the decision until the details are known.

[Realityhack]

15. How dare you be reasonable here!

Excellent points. I have no idea of the details of the case either so I was thinking the same thing.

[Control-Z]

19. "I'm sure this will be rightfully scrutinized"

Are you sure? I'm not.

[WriteDown]

20. Logic alert...

You really don't belong here :).

[onehandle]

10. Another judge with a Swiss bank account. nt

[DumpDavisHogg]

12. The judge is another B00sh appointee (n/t)

[Dogmudgeon]

13. What does the judge think Microsoft is? The Entertainment industry?

--d!

[sofa king]

14. Was the decision vacated because the software doesn't work?

Because XP and Office don't deter software piracy at all.

[Jkid]

16. That judge needs to resign.

NOW.

[Kurska]

17. Patent troll say it with me PATENT TROLL, not inventor.

The man is not a inventory, he works in coordination with people that try to copyright vague ideas or products with no intent to sell them and with only the desire to sue the living hell out of people using that common technology in their products.

Patent trolling has sunk many productive companies and it frankly needs to be put to rest.

[WriteDown]

21. Any personal experience with it?

?

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Judge probably has Microsoft stock.

:shrug:

[cascadiance]

23. Does the FISA court or another court have a "cushy" opening for Smith? This has happened before!

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was sppointed the head of the FISA Court not long after she ruled to overturn the ruling against Microsoft back in 2002, the week before the 2002 election (INTERESTING timing).

http://www.allgov.com/Official/Kollar_Kotelly__Colleen

According to this, she was "randomly selected" from a field of 10 candidates.

Well recently Reggie Walton was appointed to the FISA Court as well. Those familiar with Walton will also note that he was supposedly "randomly selected" TWICE to preside over the TWO civil court cases that Sibel Edmonds took against the government which were both shut down due to his supporting of State Secrets privilege and not allowing the court cases to proceed in both cases.

We should watch to see this guy William Smith to see if he also gets a "cushy" court appointment in the coming month or so.