Recent News in Patent Infringement Cases

In 1985, Kodak was accused of infringing on Polaroid's instant photography patents. The accusation was upheld in the Federal Circuit and in 1990 Kodak was held liable for $925 million payable to Polaroid.

On May 7, 2003 a jury found eBay guilty of willfully infringing on MercExchange patents regarding a method of using software search agents to identify products in electronic markets, as well as methods of posting items for sale in the electronic market. The result was instruction for eBay to pay $35 million in damages to MercExchange.

On June 8, 2005 well-know mobile telephone service Nokia was sued for infringing on a technology patent that allows users to answer calls without touching the phone. The first court hearing is expected to be held within the next year, but a final outcome could take years.