CSIRO v. 3Com
Jul 07, 2009OUTCOME: Settlement during trial.
CSIRO, the research arm of the Australian government, accused client of patent infringement in the Eastern District of Texas, and refused to honor its RAND commitment to the wi-fi products industry. At ... issue were the defenses of invalidity, and plaintiff's inequitable conduct and breach of its RAND commitment to the IEEE, which set the world's 802.11agn standards. The USPTO accepted re-exam of the patents shortly before trial. After the jury heard compelling evidence of invalidity and VBL presented further compelling evidence -- from the IEEE standard setting committee chairs and IBM's former head of licensing -- that a reasonable royalty was 1/20th the plaintiff's expert report, the matter settled on favorable, albeit confidential, terms to our four (4) clients: 3Com, D-Link, SMC Networks and Accton Technology Corp. The case settled 1 day before jury submission, when the plaintiff risked losing the patent or gambling on imposition of a 5 cent or lower royalty.
