CMU vs. Marvell: Patent Troll or Thieving Corporation?

[blueberryjudy]

Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/01/us-marvell-carnegiemellon-lawsuit-idUSBREA300A120140401

A federal judge ordered Marvell Technology Group Ltd to pay nearly $1.54 billion for infringing two hard disk drive patents held by Carnegie Mellon University

"This award is sufficient to penalize Marvell for its egregious behavior and to deter future infringement activities," the judge wrote in a 72-page decision.

Marvell said it intends in an appeal to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. to argue that the patents are invalid, that there was no infringement, and that the court erred in calculating a royalty rate of 50 cents per chip and applying it to chips made and sold abroad.

The initial $1.17 billion award was the third-largest in U.S. patent litigation since 1995, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a June 2013 study.

 

[BoomerD]

Thou shall not steal...

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Definitely NOT a patent troll. Hard disk technology is big business. Lots of people/companies research it, including universities (as demonstrated by this case). And universities fund their ongoing research in part by licensing their patent portfolios. Likely Marvell could have licensed the patents in question for far less than the damages award, but that was their mistake.

 

[Cheesemoo]

I think Marvell should stick to the comics or movies.

:awe:

 

[MiniDoom]

I love Thievery Corporation!