So, get this – the US Supreme Court just said ‘nope’ to hearing a case against Google over its Chrome technology. This whole thing started when a jury awarded a whopping $20 million to the inventors of some tech used in Google’s Chrome browser. But guess what? An appeals court swooped in and decided that the inventors’ patents were actually invalid. And that’s that – case closed, folks! The inventors’ attorney didn’t have much to say about it, and Google just shrugged it off with a ‘no comment.’
Here’s the backstory: Alfonso Cioffi and Allen Rozman’s daughters took Google to court back in 2013, claiming that the anti-malware features in Chrome were stepping on their patented technology. And get this – the jury actually ruled in their favour in 2017, slapping Google with a $20 million bill for patent infringement, plus ongoing royalties. That’s a big win, right? Well, not so fast. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit came along and said, ‘Hold up, these patents ain’t valid.’ And just like that, the $20 million verdict went up in smoke.
The inventors were not happy about it, to say the least. They even took their case to the Supreme Court, arguing that this decision is making it harder for inventors to get their patents recognised. They’re basically saying, ‘Hey, the patent system is already under attack by big tech companies, and this just makes it worse.’ But Google didn’t even bother responding to their plea.
So, what’s the bottom line? Google came out on top, the inventors are left empty-handed, and the case is officially closed. Tough break, but that’s how the cookie crumbles, I guess.
The case is Cioffi v. Google LLC, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 23-421.
For the inventors: Eric Benisek of Vasquez Benisek & Lindgren
For Google: Dan Bagatell of Perkins Coie
And that’s the scoop, folks!
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