The IP Innovation v. Red Hat and Novell Trial Transcripts

“The judge has ruled [PDF] that we can read the unredacted trial
transcripts from the IP Innovation v. Red Hat and Novell patent
infringement trial last April. As you may recall, Red Hat and
Novell won, and in Texas too, the jury finding that all the patents
asserted were invalid. So we’ve been dying to read these
transcripts together. But there was a lengthy argument over
redactions, so I waited until that was settled. Here is Judge
Randall R. Rader’s main reason for letting us read them all:

“This court finds that the public should have access to the
contested portions of the trial transcript and the admitted trial
exhibits. In recent years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit has expressed increased interest in patent damages
methodologies and the probative value of prior license agreements.
See, e.g., ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc., 594 F.3d 860, 868-73
(Fed. Cir. 2010); Lucent Techs., Inc. v. Gateway, Inc., 580 F.3d
1301, 1323-39 (Fed. Cir. 2009). The trial testimony in this case
highlighted the parties’ differing damages methodologies and
treatments of prior license agreements to the patents-in-suit.
Public access to such testimony provides the public with a more
complete understanding of the damages methodology in this patent
infringement case. This court’s rulings on damages issues and its
discussions with the damages experts regarding the license
agreements may also be relevant to future litigants in preparing
their damages cases.

“So here they are. If you’ve ever been curious to know what a
patent litigation trial is like, this is your chance. It will no
doubt help you in finding prior art in the future, by seeing how
the lawyers used it here. It’s rather dazzling, with a live demo of
a 1985 Amiga. Yes. The Amiga was still alive and usable for the
demonstration by Red Hat and Novell’s expert to show prior
art.”

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