These days it’s not uncommon to see patent infringement claims settled for hundreds of millions of dollars. There was RIM’s settlement with NTP for $612 million, Intel’s with Intergraph for $600 million and with MicroUnity for $300 million, and the blockbuster, Qualcomm’s settlement with Broadcomm for $891 million. These huge sums stimulate the equivalent of high-tech ambulance-chasing: individuals and companies pursuing patent infringement claims against companies with deep pockets, seeking substantial settlements. Whether the claims of infringement are valid or not, technology companies need to ensure they are equipped to defend themselves.
Recently a large semiconductor company was accused of infringing multiple patents held by a little-known start-up. The law firm representing the semiconductor company engaged BDTI’s services to help analyze the patents in question. BDTI was able to help the lawyers accelerate their work by drawing on a unique set of resources. First, BDTI drew on its deep technical expertise to help the lawyers gain a clear picture of the technology covered by the patents—and the strengths and weaknesses of the infringement claims. Then, BDTI was able to use its extensive historical knowledge of the industry (and associated document archive) to find numerous examples of prior art predating the patents in question. Finally, BDTI tapped its far-reaching network of industry contacts to get in touch with several people directly involved in early technology development in the field, to answer key questions about which companies developed which technologies first. In the end, the attorneys representing the semiconductor company had at their disposal a weighty body of evidence to use in the defense of their client.
As the value of intellectual property grows in proportion to the revenues of technology companies, the risks associated with IP increase as well. When faced with patent litigation related to embedded processing and digital signal processing, technology companies can turn to BDTI for expert technical advice. To discuss your company’s needs, contact Jeremy Giddings at BDTI (giddings@bdti.com).
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