SiliconBeat

Shares of VirnetX, the developer of Internet-calling and instant messaging software that sued Microsoft in 2007 claiming the software giant infringed three of its patents, doubled in value today after the Scotts Valley company reported that the federal court hearing the suit had issued a “Markman” order that adopted interpretations of the patent claim language that it Read the rest of this entry »

Intuit, the Mountain View maker of TurboTax and other software, recently said it will pay $120 million over the next ten years to an unnamed party for the right to use an unspecified technology — and that’s prompting speculation among patent and licensing experts.

The Recorder, a San Francisco-based newspaper aimed at the legal community, reported last week that the other party in the deal is Intellectual Ventures, a company started by former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold. If true — and the newspaper only cited unnamed sources — it would be the latest of several sizable deals that Myhrvold’s firm reportedly has struck with major tech companies.

Those deals have sparked some consternation because a big part of Intellectual Ventures’ business involves buying up the rights to hundreds of patents and then seeking licensing payments from companies that use the technology. Myhrvold told the Wall Street Journal last fall that he’s simply enforcing legal rules that require businesses to pay for using intellectual property that isn’t their own.

Some have compared Myhrvold to so-called “patent trolls” who buy up obscure patents with no intention of using the technology themselves, and instead concentrate on filing patent infringement lawsuits against a variety of defendants. Critics say some of those are no more than nuisance suits aimed at extracting huge payments from companies that may make only minor use of the patented technology.

So far, however, Intellectual Ventures has reportedly obtained payments of up to $350 million from companies like Verizon and Cisco without filing lawsuits. It does invite some of the same companies to invest in a fund that it uses to buy more patents.

Intuit makes a variety of financial software and has been increasingly offering software and services on-line. A spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment on the licensing agreement, which the company disclosed in a recent SEC filing.

As part of an effort to raise its profile, Cannabis Science, the San Francisco research and development firm aiming to develop cannabis-based medicines, has hired a Canadian company to provide it with investor relations services. In April, Cannabis got the OK from the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to begin trading its shares over the counter under the symbol CBIS.

Earlier this month the company touted the fact that it had received Read the rest of this entry »

Align Technology, the Santa Clara manufacturer and supplier of the Invisalign teeth-straightening system, lost a jury verdict in a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it in January 2003 by Ormco Orthodontics.

The jury found that Read the rest of this entry »

VirnetX, the Scotts Valley supplier of tools for securing real-time communications over the Internet, has hired a Texas-based law firm with a track record of fighting Microsoft in court to represent it in its current suit against the software giant.

McKool Smith will now lead VirnetX’s litigation effort in a suit brought against Microsoft in February 2007 Read the rest of this entry »

Exponent, which bills itself as “an engineering and scientific consulting firm that provides solutions to complex problems”, may have to forego $740,000 owed it by Chrysler, the troubled (is there any other kind these days?) auto manufacturer that filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

The fact was noted in the company’s quarterly financial form known as a 10-Q, which it filed Wednesday. Exponent said that the ultimate loss, Read the rest of this entry »

Opti, a former maker of semiconductors that now makes its living licensing its intellectual property, said in a press release Friday that the jury from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled in its favor in the patent infringement trial between it and Apple related to its patent entitled Read the rest of this entry »

Bookham, the San Jose maker of optical components, said in a filing today it has settled litigation it had set in motion last year when it asked a federal court in San Jose and the International Trade Commission to declare invalid three patents held by JDS Uniphase related to tunable laser products.

As a result of the settlement, Bookham will pay Read the rest of this entry »

Should Skype, the Internet telephone company purchased by eBay in 2005, come out the loser in its growing litigation against Joltid, which licenses critical peer-to-peer communication technology to the company, the “continued operation of Skype’s business as currently conducted would likely not be possible”, according to a filing eBay made with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Joltid, the British Virgin Islands-based company founded in 2001 by the folks behind Read the rest of this entry »

Rambus is set to get about $349 million from Hynix Semiconductor based on a “final judgement” rendered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Tuesday.

Hynix was also ordered to pay the Los Altos chip designer royalties on Read the rest of this entry »