Federal Judiciary

Second Tyler verdict results in $200 million against Microsoft

By Michael C. Smith

The second Tyler case, in Judge Leonard Davis' court came back today with a verdict for plaintiff i4i, Inc. against Microsoft with damages set at $200 million.  Jurors found that the infringement was willful.  Don't have any other details yet (so I can't tell what the jury did on invalidity, or whether there are additional proceedings scheduled for any inequitable conduct issues, which is where some other cases with numbers like this have gone to die recently). 
Not quite as happy an ending in Tyler for the guys from Redmond as in March, when they got a summary judgment of noninfringement from Judge Davis following jury selection, also in Tyler.
Kind of makes a defendant wish for Marshall, doesn't it?
For those keeping score, after an initial defense run of three and a half out of the first four trie this year, this raises the score for the year to four plaintiff wins, three losses and one do-over.  Half the wins are in Tyler, with one apiece in Marshall and Lufkin (later reduced).  Over the last two and a half years this comes out by my calculation to 18 plaintiff and 18 defense wins.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).