Microsoft Takes Patent Infringement Appeal to High Court, With Matt Powers

[Amy Miller]

Weil, Gotshal & Manges patent litigator Matt Powers has another chance to beat a $290 million patent infringement judgment against Microsoft Corp.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to consider Microsoft’s appeal of the matter, and Redwood City-based Powers will once again represent the software giant, along with attorneys from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C.

Powers was lead counsel for Microsoft in 2009 when a federal jury in Tyler, Texas, decided that versions of Microsoft Word violated patents held by Toronto software company I4i.

U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Davis also levied about $290 million in penalties, including an extra $40 million for “improper arguments” made by Powers. Microsoft has unsuccessfully appealed the verdict twice.

Now Silicon Valley companies are rallying behind Microsoft’s appeal, which will decide the legal standard for determining a patent’s validity.

Apple, Inc., Facebook Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., and Yahoo! Inc. have all filed briefs in support of Microsoft. Apple, for example, said the patent system “is tilting out of balance,” and gives too much power to people who secure questionable patents.

More briefs are likely to follow soon, Stanford law professor Mark Lemley said. “This is going to be one of times when amicus briefs come out of the woodwork,” Lemley said. “This is going to be a big one with a lot of people weighing in.”

Comments

[John Dale]

I think the bigger question is what parts of Apple’s patents are invalid, and how could this effect other lawsuits? Apple knew it could step in some poop with these lawsuits – if their patents are declared invalid due to prior art, then apple would be violating others IP rights…