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Failure to Point to Applicable Portions of a Patent Spec Topples $34M Verdict
Patent Litigation Feature
District of Delaware Judge Richard G. Andrews has granted to Adobe renewed judgment of noninfringement as a matter of law, upsetting a jury verdict that awarded ViaTech Technologies, Inc. nearly $34M in damages. Claim 1 of the only tried patent contains an element—a “license monitor and control mechanism”—that the court construed as requiring means-plus-function treatment. In his Markman order, Judge Andrews pointed to various portions of the patent specification that identified structures for performing each of two recited functions, but at trial, per the court, ViaTech’s expert failed to point to the right passages, the passages corresponding to the first of those two recited functions, “communicating with a dynamic license database”. Lacking this supportive evidence, the infringement verdict, and the related damages award, must fall.
July 21, 2024
ViaTech Files Second Suit Against Microsoft
New Patent Litigation
ViaTech Technologies, Inc. has filed a second complaint against Microsoft (1:17-cv-00570), asserting the same patent (6,920,567) at issue in the first case. The ‘567 patent generally relates to enforcing the licensed use of digital content. In September 2014, ViaTech accused Microsoft of infringement through the product activation mechanisms in Windows and Office, while the new complaint targets Microsoft’s PlayReady DRM platform. This second suit comes as the Delaware court considers a raft of motions, for summary judgment on various claims and to preclude certain expert opinions, in the first.
May 16, 2017