Trump administration sues drugmaker Gilead Sciences over patent on Truvada for HIV prevention; The Washington Post, November 7, 2019

Christopher Rowland, The Washington Post; Trump administration sues drugmaker Gilead Sciences over patent on Truvada for HIV prevention

"The Trump administration took the rare step Wednesday of filing a patent infringement lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Sciences over sales of Truvada for HIV prevention, a crucial therapy invented and patented by Centers for Disease Control researchers."

IBM wins $83 million from Groupon in e-commerce patent fight; Chicago Tribune, July 30, 2018

Christopher Yasiejko, Chicago Tribune; IBM wins $83 million from Groupon in e-commerce patent fight

"A U.S. jury awarded IBM $82.5 million after finding that Groupon infringed four of its e-commerce patents.

Friday's verdict is a boon to IBM's intellectual-property licensing business, which last year brought in $1.19 billion for the company, holder of more than 45,000 patents.

IBM sued Chicago-based Groupon for $167 million, accusing it of building its online coupon business on the back of the IBM e-commerce inventions without permission. Midway through their first full day of deliberations in Wilmington, Delaware, jurors sided with IBM, finding that Groupon infringed the patents intentionally. The ruling means the judge can increase the damages award."

Merck Falls After $2.54 Billion Gilead Verdict Is Tossed; Bloomberg, February 20, 2018

Susan Decker and Christopher Yasiejko, Bloomberg; Merck Falls After $2.54 Billion Gilead Verdict Is Tossed

"Merck & Co. fell after a federal judge tossed a record $2.54 billion verdict it had won against Gilead Sciences Inc. over a hepatitis treatment.

A federal jury in 2016 had said that Gilead owed Merck 10 percent of the sales of its Sovaldi and Harvoni hepatitis C drugs. District Court Judge Leonard Stark in Wilmington, Delaware, agreed Friday with Gilead’s argument that the Merck patent was invalid...

The verdict was the largest patent-infringement verdict in U.S. history, dwarfing the next biggest, a $1.67 billion verdict won by Johnson & Johnson against Abbott Laboratories that was later thrown out on appeal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The case is Idenix Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Gilead Sciences Inc., 14-846, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington)."

Apple ordered to pay $506 million to university in patent dispute; Reuters, July 25, 2017

Jan Wolfe, Reuters; Apple ordered to pay $506 million to university in patent dispute

"A U.S. judge on Monday ordered Apple Inc to pay $506 million for infringing on a patent owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's patent licensing arm, more than doubling the damages initially imposed on Apple by a jury.

U.S. District Judge William Conley in Madison added $272 million to a $234 million jury verdict the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation won against Apple in October 2015. Conley said WARF is owed additional damages plus interest because Apple continued to infringe the patent, which relates to computer processor technology, until it expired in December 2016."

The World’s Best-Selling Drug Just Lost a Key Patent Battle; Fortune, May 18, 2017

Sy Mukherjee, Fortune; 

The World’s Best-Selling Drug Just Lost a Key Patent Battle

"The rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis medicine has recently been a target of biopharma companies that are trying to make generic Humira copycats called "biosimilars."...

Once the drug does fall off the patent cliff, however, AbbVie could be in for some rough times. Humira sales make up more than 60% of its revenues."

Who Has the Keys to Self-Driving Cars?; Inside Counsel, March 28, 2017

Amanda Ciccatelli, Inside Counsel; 

Who Has the Keys to Self-Driving Cars?

"The question of who controls the future of self-driving cars may be answered in a lawsuit happening right now in a California courtroom. In the lawsuit filed in February, Waymo (Google’s self-driving car unit) accuses Uber of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation because Uber bought a $700 million start-up company formed by a former Waymo engineer who Waymo says stole its technology with Uber’s knowledge. 

“This case is one of the first major battles over driverless car technology, and it promises to be a real food fight,” said Ryan Koppelman, a partner in Alston & Bird’s IP Litigation Practice and co-leader of the firm’s Connected & Autonomous Vehicle Group. “Both companies are angling to capture a large share in the burgeoning world of self-driving vehicles. The global market for autonomous driving hardware components alone is expected to grow from $400 million in 2015 to $40 billion in 2030. The stakes couldn’t be higher.”

Roberts Recuses From Patent Case After Discovering Conflict; Associated Press via New York Times, 1/4/17

Associated Press via New York Times; 

Roberts Recuses From Patent Case After Discovering Conflict:

"Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says he will no longer participate in deciding a patent infringement case because he discovered he owns shares in the parent company of one of the parties.

Roberts took part in arguments in the dispute between California-based Life Technologies Corp. and Wisconsin-based Promega Corp. on Dec. 6."

Pittsburgh's Digital Dream Labs sues British toy company over patent; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/24/16

Patricia Sabatini, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pittsburgh's Digital Dream Labs sues British toy company over patent:

"Pittsburgh startup Digital Dream Labs is suing to stop a British company from selling an educational toy in the U.S. that allegedly rips off Digital’s patented game technology.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Digital claims that London-based Primo Toys plans to sell a playset in this country that essentially is a copycat of Digital’s Puzzlets game designed to teach children how to program computers.

Both companies’ toys involve arranging tiles on a game grid, which control the movement of a character."