Court backs Uniloc in case against Microsoft

Recent Cases

A federal appeals court reinstated a 2009 jury verdict Tuesday that Microsoft Corp. infringed on patents held by software maker Uniloc Inc., reversing a judge's decision to the contrary, but it also granted Microsoft a new trial on damages.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the jury's April 2009 verdict on patent infringement was supported by "substantial" evidence, so it reversed a federal judge's decision in September of that year that overturned the jury's verdict.

Irvine, Calif.-based Uniloc makes software that prevents people from illegally installing software on multiple computers. In a lawsuit filed in 2003, Uniloc argued that Microsoft's "product activation" system used in Windows XP, Office XP and Office 2003 programs infringed on several parts of a related patent, and that the software maker had copied Uniloc's technology rather than develop similar work on its own.

The jury in 2009 had found this to be the case, and awarded Uniloc $388 million in damages. On Tuesday, the appeals court agreed on the patent infringement but called the jury's damages award "fundamentally tainted," and granted a new trial on the damages.

Related listings

  • Judge strikes down NYC's gruesome tobacco ads

    Judge strikes down NYC's gruesome tobacco ads

    Recent Cases 01/05/2011

    The city's campaign to scare smokers with grotesque images of decaying teeth or a diseased lung wherever tobacco products are sold was struck down Wednesday by a federal judge who concluded that only the federal government can dictate warnings that m...

  • Iowa Supreme Court upholds taxation of KFC

    Iowa Supreme Court upholds taxation of KFC

    Recent Cases 01/04/2011

    The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a decision to levy corporate income taxes against fried chicken giant KFC.At question is whether the state can impose income tax on revenue received by a company that doesn't have a presence in Iowa. KFC doesn't own ...

  • Florida AG urges spill victims to get lawyers

    Florida AG urges spill victims to get lawyers

    Recent Cases 12/19/2010

    Attorneys general in four Gulf Coast states are urging oil spill victims to check with lawyers before settling claims against BP PLC.They issued consumer advisories Friday in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Earlier this week Claims Administrat...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.