Law Offices of David L. Hoffman
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"If you are going to appeal, do it right."
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PATENTS, THE
GREAT EQUALIZER
The power of a patent can be incredible. Just before Christmas, the Court of
Appeal for the Federal Circuit affirmed a $240 million judgment and
an injunction against giant Microsoft, in favor of i4i, a custom
software developer firm. i4i
Ltd. v. Microsoft, Fed. Cir., No. 2009-1504,
Dec. 22, 2009. The patent covered making a map of "metacodes" (tags that tell the computer how
to display text, e.g., in bold, or that otherwise identify the text)
in e.g., a Microsoft WordŽ document.
Metacodes and the document's text
are stored separately. That way the text or the metacodes can be modified or revised separately
from each other, and the map acts as a key.
Microsoft made numerous arguments of patent
invalidity and noninfringement, but the
trial judge interpreted the claims favorably to i4i, and the jury
found for i4i. Moreover, Microsoft was found to have willfully
infringed. If i4i did not have
a patent, there is no doubt that Microsoft would have blown i4i out
of the marketplace.
Sincerely,
David Hoffman
Law Offices of David L. Hoffman
28494
Westinghouse Place, Suite 204
Valencia,
California 91355
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Tip
of the Month
Every business
has trademarks. A new business
name, a new product or service name, and sometimes even the look of a
product or its packaging can function as a trademark. Trademarks can often be the most
valuable asset of a company, as they represent the goodwill of the
company. Make sure that your
clients steer clear of the marks of others and protect their own
marks.
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