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Court says Microsoft must pay in patent case
Court Center |
2011/06/10 06:55
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The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Microsoft Corp. must pay a $290 million judgment awarded to a small Toronto software company for infringing on one of its patents inside its popular Microsoft Word program.
The high court unanimously refused to throw out the judgment against the world's largest software maker.
Toronto-based i4i sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind a tool used in Microsoft Word. The technology in question gave Word 2003 and Word 2007 users an improved way to edit XML, which is computer code that tells the program how to interpret and display a document's contents.
The lower courts say Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft willfully infringed on the patent, and ordered the world's largest software maker to pay i4i $290 million and stop selling versions of Word containing the infringing technology.
Microsoft wanted the multimillion dollar judgment against it erased because it claims a judge used the wrong standard in instructing the jury that came up with the award.
The software company said a jury should determine a patent's validity by a "preponderance" of the evidence instead of the more heightened "clear and convincing" evidence standard instructed by the judge.
The Supreme Court said the "clear and convincing" standard was the correct one.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote the court's opinion, said the courts have interpreted the law the same way for 30 years. During this period, Congress has often amended the patent law, she said. |
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Banks lose battle to delay cap on invisible fee
Top Legal News |
2011/06/10 06:54
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Merchants trumped bankers in a battle for billions Wednesday as the Senate voted to let the Federal Reserve slash fees that stores pay financial institutions when customers pay with debit cards.
Whether consumers will see any of that money remains to be seen.
The Fed will now issue its final rules on debit fees, called interchange fees, on July 21. It has recommended cutting the average 44 cents that banks and credit unions charge for each debit card transaction to no more than 12 cents, although the final plan could change slightly.
The fee is now typically 1 to 2 percent of each purchase. It produces $16 billion in annual revenue for banks, credit unions and the credit card companies that operate the huge payment networks, the Fed estimates.
Merchants say lower fees should let them lower prices. Banks warn that they'll have to recoup the lost revenue through other charges that likely will come directly from consumers' pockets, such as higher checking account fees. |
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Court: Using car to flee can be considered violent
Legal Watch |
2011/06/09 06:55
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The Supreme Court says fleeing police custody in a vehicle can be considered a violent felony.
The high court made its ruling on Thursday in the case of Marcus Sykes.
Sykes was convicted of being a felon in possession of a handgun in 2008. Officials said he was subject to a sentencing enhancement because of two previous felony convictions, one of which was fleeing the police in a car in Indiana.
Sykes argued his fleeing conviction shouldn't be considered violent and two federal appeals courts, the 7th Circuit in Chicago and the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, have ruled in opposite ways.
The high court said in a 6-3 judgment that Sykes' flight from police can be considered a violent felony. |
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NH Senate rejects changes to anti-bullying law
Legal News |
2011/05/06 11:39
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New Hampshire's Senate has voted unanimously to reject changes to the state's anti-bullying law, such as limiting school responsibility in dealing with off-campus incidents.
Senators said Wednesday that the current law is only months old and needs further study before any changes are made.
The current law was amended last year for the electronic age. It defines bullying and cyberbullying and allows schools to step in if the conduct happens outside of school and interferes with a student's education or substantially disrupts school operations.
Many states have been moving in this direction, but some New Hampshire lawmakers wanted to restrict the boundaries to school grounds.
The House passed a bill in March that would remove that provision and make other changes. The Senate's rejection leaves the measure's future in doubt. |
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Court for Fla. woman charged in husband's NY death
Legal Watch |
2011/05/06 09:40
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Federal prosecutors have been turning up the heat on a Florida woman accused of arranging the 2009 killings of her millionaire husband and mother-in-law.
Narcy Novack of Fort Lauderdale and her brother, Cristobal Veliz of Brooklyn, N.Y., are due in court Friday morning for a status conference.
Novack and Veliz are accused of hiring others to kill Ben Novack in his New York hotel room and Bernice Novack in her Florida home.
Last month, the government added the mother-in-law's killing to the charges against Novack and Veliz. And a prosecutor said another charge — which carries the possibility of the death penalty — may be in store.
Defense attorneys suggested the prosecution was trying to force a guilty plea.
Ben Novack's father built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. |
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RI lawyer confirmed as US judge; GOP block fails
Top Legal News |
2011/05/06 09:39
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A trial lawyer nominated by President Barack Obama to be a federal judge in Rhode Island was confirmed on a party-line vote Wednesday just hours after a Senate GOP filibuster attempt failed.
The Senate voted 50-44 to confirm lawyer John McConnell to the bench after a more significant 63-33 tally to advance the nomination past a filibuster orchestrated by GOP leaders.
Eleven Republicans joined with Democrats in the earlier vote to break the filibuster. GOP leaders opposed McConnell, citing his record as a trial lawyer in cases against businesses. Republicans also said McConnell was less than truthful in his testimony to the Senate.
Wednesday's vote comes six years after the Republicans then in control of the Senate considered a change in procedures to make it impossible to filibuster judicial nominations, citing numerous Democratic efforts to stall former President George W. Bush's nominees. Democrats said Republicans were being hypocritical in now trying to filibuster a Democratic nominee. |
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Discrimination suit against Pa. law firm settled
Top Legal News |
2011/05/05 15:41
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A lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh's second-largest law firm of discriminating against women has been settled.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports a dismissal notice was filed in federal court Thursday, ending the case brought by attorney JoEllen Lyons Dillon.
Dillon alleged in a December lawsuit that women at Reed Smith are paid less than men and that females are pressured to have sex with male superiors to get work.
She also said her pay was nearly halved during maternity leave, and that she was asked if she was "done having babies" when she inquired about a promotion.
Dillon's lawyer, Sam Cordes, would say only that "the matter is resolved to our mutual satisfaction."
Reed Smith declined comment. Dillon no longer works there. |
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