Newsletter
| March 11, 2010
i4i Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp.
The test for willfulness is distinct and separate from the factors guiding a district court’s discretion regarding enhanced damages.
On March 10, 2010, in an accompanying nonprecedential order, the Federal Circuit granted Microsoft’s petition for rehearing by the panel and withdrew its December 22, 2009 opinion in favor of a new opinion with revisions regarding willfulness. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment that awarded i4i $240 million (including $40 million in enhanced damages) for Microsoft’s infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449, which related to the improved editing of documents containing markup languages like XML. The Federal Circuit also affirmed the permanent injunction enjoining Microsoft and/or users who purchase or license Word after the effective date, inter alia, from selling, offering to sell, and/or importing into the United States any infringing Word products with the capability of opening XML files containing custom XML, and using Word to open an XML file containing custom XML.
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