U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Sung made the comment December 6 during oral argument in the Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing effort to block Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, the biggest U.S. maker of video games. (Hat tip to Josh Sisco at Politico Pro.) The FTC claimed that the merger threatened to substantially reduce competition
Microsoft
Microsoft Didn’t Monopolize, Tenth Circuit Rules
By Barry Barnett on
The Tenth Circuit has ruled that Microsoft didn't kill WordPerfect. The market did.
Or at least that, if Microsoft did commit software-icide, it didn't lose money doing it and therefore Did Nothing Wrong. Novell, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 12-4143 (10th Cir. Sept. 23, 2013).
For other instances of antitrust-icide in the Tenth Circuit…
Microsoft Tags Motorola for $14 Million of Bad Faith in License Offer for Standard-Essential Patents
By Barry Barnett on
A Seattle jury today hit Motorola with a $14 to $15 million damages award for bad faith in negotiating to license patents that Microsoft's Xbox and Windows products infringe.
The dispute involved patents that Microsoft holds on technologies relating to wireless local area networks and video coding.
Two standard-setting organizations (SSOs) incorporated the Motorola technologies into standards that they set — H.264 and 802.11…
Choosing Mistakes
By Barry Barnett on
David Boies said:
Sometimes when things are going well, you think they'll go on forever. Not everything bad you do hurts you, and not everything good you do helps you.
He had in mind a "serious" goof he made in the feds' antitrust case against Microsoft during the 1990s. He said he had deposed Bill Gates for two…
Infringers Must Show Patent Invalidity Clearly and Convincingly, Supreme Court Holds
By Barry Barnett on
Seven justices today rejected an attempt to make patents easier for judges and juries to find invalid. The Court held that Congress's granting patents a presumption of validity saves patents unless their foes prove a basis for invalidity with "clear and convincing" evidence. Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, No. 10-290 (U.S. June 9…
Rule Behind Huge Patent Damages Dies at Hands of Federal Circuit, Second Rule Lives to Fight Another Day
By Barry Barnett on
You may have wondered why patent cases have seemed so vogue in the last decade or so for hot shot trial lawyers. Blawgletter would not presume to tell you the cause. But perhaps it stems from the fact that, as Willie Sutton said, "that's where the money is."
But that now looks so two days ago. …
Microsoft Owes $240MM and Must Quit Word’s XML Editor, Federal Circuit Holds
By Barry Barnett on
The Federal Circuit yesterday upheld almost all of a $240 judgment against Microsoft Corporation for willful patent infringement.
U.S. District Judge Leonard A. Davis presided over a jury trial on i4i's claims. He accepted findings of infringement and willfulness and the jury's verdict of $200 million in damages. He also enhanced the award by $40 million, in part due to…