Microsoft and AT&T granted $1.1m fees in patent suit
Microsoft and telecoms company AT&T have been granted more than $1.1 million in attorneys’ fees after succeeding in a patent suit against an inventor.
Keith Raniere had claimed that the companies had infringed his software patents in February last year. The patents concerned were US numbers 6,373,936; 6,819,752; 7,215,752; 7,391,856; and 7,844,041.
The order was filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on September 2.
Chief Judge Barbara Lynn said that the case was “exceptional” because it “stands out from others with respect to the unreasonable manner in which it was litigated”.
She added that Raniere’s conduct throughout the litigation, “culminating in his untruthful testimony at the hearing on the motion to dismiss, demonstrates a pattern of obfuscation and bad faith”.
Section 285 of the US Code authorises district courts to award reasonable attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party in patent litigation in exceptional cases.
AT&T estimated its fees at $935,300, while Microsoft cited $202,000, and the court granted these amounts.
In March this year, the court determined that Raniere failed to establish that he owned the patents, and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.
Lynn added: “Plaintiff’s conduct required defendants to expend significant resources to oppose plaintiff’s arguments, which the court now finds were made in bad faith to vexat iously multiply these proceedings and avoid early dismissal.”
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