A Judge in the US this week vacated the highly publicised US $388 million jury verdict earlier this year against Microsoft for the alleged infringement of an anti-piracy software activation technology patent owned by Uniloc – a software security company founded by Australian entrepreneur Ric Richardson.
US District Court Judge Smith concluded that the jury “lacked a grasp of the issues before it” and had reached its finding on infringement “without a legally sufficient basis”. Carefully reviewing each element of the claim of the Uniloc patent in dispute, comparing it to the Microsoft product activation technology, the Judge concluded that Microsoft did not infringe the Uniloc patent as a matter of law.
The case highlights the vagaries of the US jury system, particularly in relation to complex technology patents.
The text of the judgment can be found here.
