TIME to Criminalize Patent Theft - and Make a Stand for Inventors Rights - Patent Infringement by Big Tech Companies NEEDS to Get Your Attention

This is Nothing Compared to the money that Intel Corp., Time Warner, Lockheed Martin, Sony, AOL, Warner Bros. and more face over the iViewit Stolen Technology - Story at www.DeniedPatent.com

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Yahoo Loses Patent Infringement Case, $12.4 Million

IMVironments - the little background themes for Yahoo Messenger - have gotten Yahoo in a lot of trouble. The company's lost a patent infringement case that concerns them, and as a result, is supposed to pay a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation $12.4 million.

With no offense intended to Yahoo's lawyers, it's safe to say that the odds never favored a Yahoo victory; a few details strongly imply that Acacia's a patent troll. Take, for example, the fact that the case was tried in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas - a spot known for favoring plaintiffs.

Acacia's homepage also says a lot, since ten of the eleven "Recent News" items relate to patents and litigation.

Then here's one very telling fact that Rachael King recently discovered while researching the company: "Acacia has filed at least 337 patent-related lawsuits in its 18 years."

Anyway, Yahoo now has to fork over $12.4 million, and Acacia should also benefit from an ongoing royalty rate of 23 percent for all Yahoo IMVironments sales.

On the bright side, Yahoo's stock is up a tiny bit this morning, even as the Dow and Nasdaq are heading down. Hat tip goes to Robin Wauters. "

Source of Post

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/02/03/yahoo-loses-patent-infringement-case-124-million

posted here by

Crystal L. Cox

Investigative Blogger