Friday, April 24, 2015

Intellectual Ventures Sees Setback In Patent Suits Against Symantec, Trend Micro

Bellevue-based patent storehouse Intellectual Ventures has seen a big setback in patent suits it had filed in 2010 against Symantec and Trend Micro. A judge in the U.S. District Court of Delaware invalidated two patents held by Intellectual Ventures, which were being used in the suits, which sought millions in dollars from Symantec and Trend Micro for patent infringement. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark, said that Intellectual Ventures antivirus patents were "abstract" and covered a "generic computer implementation of an abstract idea"--which means that patents are not eligible for patents, due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Intellectual Ventures had been seeking $150M in damages against Trend Micro, and had been awarded $17M from Symantec in a jury trial, where it had sought $300M in damages.