SPS Member Welcomes Jury Verdict in Patent Infringement Case

Regarding Carnegie Mellon's patent infringement case against Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Marvell Semiconductor Inc., Carnegie Mellon University stated it was awarded $1.17 billion by a federal jury in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, in a unanimous verdict that found the Marvell Technology Group had sold billions of semiconductors using technology developed at the university without a license.

Carnegie claimed that Marvell had infringed on a pair of patents relating to fundamental technology for increasing the accuracy with which hard drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks. The patents were developed by José Moura, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, and Aleksandar Kavcic, a former Ph.D. student now a professor at the University of Hawaii. Their work was supported by Carnegie’s Data Storage Systems Center, a university research organization.

More details regarding the case can be found at this news article.

Sources:

• Dec. 2012 Carnegie Mellon News - News Brief: Carnegie Mellon University Welcomes Jury Verdict in Patent Infringement Case
• The New York Times - Jury Awards $1.17 Billion in Patent Suit