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• Author: International Law Group

Federal court overturns large patent infringement award to U K. company

In 1997, a British company owned by Frederic Goldstein and trading as "Group One," filed a patent infringement action in Kansas federal court against Hallmark Cards, Inc., a privately-held U.S. company. It dealt with plaintiffs' patents on a device that creates curled, cascading ribbons to decorate gift packages. One of Hallmark's defenses was that Group One's claimed invention failed to meet two general standards - "novelty" and "nonobviousness." After a trial, the jury came in with an $8.9 million verdict in September 2003, declaring that Hallmark had willfully infringed Group One's patents. Five months later, however, the trial judge set aside the verdict as a matter of law on the grounds that the Group One patents were invalid. According to the judge, the two patents granted to Goldstein were "obvious" as defined by patent law. He cited a number of previously issued patents which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should have examined more carefully. An appeal by Group One is expected.

Citation: The Associated Press (online), Kansas City, Missouri; filed Thursday, February 26, 2004, 17:43:50 GMT.

EU anti-trust enforcers crack down on Microsoft

On March 15, 2004, the EC Commission's competition watchdogs obtained unanimous approval from Member State regulators of its draft ruling against Microsoft Corp. It had concluded that the giant company has abused its Windows monopoly in the European market. Specifically, the Commission wants to see to it that Microsoft makes available to computer firms an edition of Windows that leaves out its own Media Player. This would allow competitors like RealNetworks Inc. to secure a better chance at getting onto the desktops of European consumers. The Commission would also require Microsoft to free up more basic Windows code, thus helping to achieve "interoperability" with rival networking software made by Sun Microsystems and others. Microsoft's legal team, however, is still striving to avoid a far- reaching order that might lead to a fine of as much as $3 billion.

According to a New York...