Patent Decision: i4i vs. Microsoft

 

Last week the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) released its decision in the long-running patent infringement case between i4i, a Canadian software company, and Microsoft. (We’ve been following the case here). Microsoft has now run out of legal options. At trial, the jury found that Microsoft willfully infringed i4i’s software patent and that Microsoft failed to prove invalidity of the patent.  Microsoft appealed the original trial decision. That appeal was dismissed. Microsoft filed another appeal for a en banc re-hearing. That appeal was dismissed. Microsoft challenged the validity of the i4i patent. The patent was upheld, and the USPTO denied Microsoft’s second application for a re-examination. Microsoft appealed up to the SCOTUS and that appeal has now been dismissed (see the full decision here). In the US, the Patent Act is clear that a patent is presumed to be valid and in order to establish invalidity, the party who is challenging the patent must present “clear and convincing evidence”. Microsoft failed to provide such evidence and the original infringement decision stands.

One of the interesting elements of the case was Microsoft’s allegation that i4i had previously sold software (known as S4) which embodied the patented invention. If true, this would have impacted the validity of the patent that Microsoft had infringed. The S4 source code had been destroyed years before the patent infringement litigation, so evidence came from S4’s two inventors, both of whom testified that the S4 software did not embody the invention claimed in the infringed patent.  Microsoft now has to face the $290 million damage award and permanent injunction that bars the sales of certain versions of Microsoft Word.

Calgary – 07:00 MT 

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