$1.5 billion infringement verdict against Microsoft vacatedAugust 7, 2007

A judge in the Southern District of California yesterday set aside a $1.5 billion infringement verdict against Microsoft in favor of Alcatel-Lucent (more detail on the facts of the case can be found in this post).

The judgment was the largest ever in a patent infringement lawsuit, and has been used as an example (see page 15 of Anthony Peterman's testimony before the House, which specifically references this case) in support of the damages apportionment provisions of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145). With Congress in recess, the bill will not undergo further consideration until after Labor Day, but it will be interesting if opponents of the bill use this news as a further argument against adopting at least the highly controversial damages apportionment provisions in the bill.

Update (9/5): Bloomberg agrees that this decision may hurt the Patent Reform Act's chances in Congress.

How Appealing has collected the media coverage of the court's decision.

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