After a massive win at the district court level, CMU was on track to collect as much as $1.54 billion. The university won a $1.17 billion jury verdict in 2012, to which a judge added penalties and interest. But an appeals court cut the win significantly, approving $278 million in damages and ordering other damages issues to be re-tried at the district court level.
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It is instances like these that make me wonder if people actually realize they are stealing intellectual property or if it is something that is genuinely over looked. In the end it didn’t really seem to have a negative effect on anyone, well some would say that losing 750 million is a loss but the stock prices weren’t effected and from what I can tell Marvel wont take a big hit from this. CMU is also getting 250 million added to their endowment which might bring the university over 2 billion. It is discoveries like these that make this university what it is and how the people that go here have such a serious impact on new discoveries and technologic advances. I am proud to say that I go to a school that has some of the brightest mind in the world, and I will not be surprised if I see CMU popping up on more and more headlines in the future.
This is good, I guess, it’s nice to see an article on an IP related issue that doesn’t have the complication of artistic freedom thrown into it. These guys invented something that someone else stole apparently, and now they are entitled to a lot of money. And so is the University. I would love to hear some news about what CMU is planning on doing with all that money. As a student here, someone also paying a lot of money, I’d love to see it go to things that would help the majority of students here at the University first, and then some that would take care of the rest of them as well. I’m sure the money will be put to good use, but a part of me feels bad when university’s get a huge lump of money and there isn’t even talk of it going towards a package that effects tuition for students over the next 10 years. From a business standpoint I know it’s equivalent to throwing away that money, but the University isn’t a business. At least, it shouldn’t really be treated as one in my mind.
This story has been all over campus recently. $750 million is a lot of money. This article did a nice job of summarizing the patents in question, which I previously had not Googled yet. This case is the latest in the series of huge corporate lawsuits. It’s interesting, however, in the fact that the matter at question is a “computer science invention.” In the world of computer engineering, ideas are shared back and forth between many people, more so than most fields. Since the industry is still rapidly developing, I can see how easy it would be for Marvell to incorporate the ideas of Moura and Kavcic and not think about the possibility of patent infringement. Alternatively, Marvell was really being malicious in their decisions. Either way, I’m glad the inventors got some additional money for their work. I hope CMU uses the $250 million well.
While I don't really understand how the patent was actually infringed upon honestly, I'm glad the owners of the patent received their compensation... It is just amazing to me that 500 millions dollars is what to took to cover legal fees and investor shares. Money is truly staggering.
I am very glad that CMU won the case, though, because of President Suresh's email mentioned in the article. The email states that a significant amount of the 250 million dollars will be going towards scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. As a recipient of a scholarship from the school that I never thought I would get, that is amazing.
With the cost of education higher than it has ever been, but the mean income of families not increasing at the same rate, seeing the attempts to close that gap make me incredibly happy. Accessibility is the most important part of education - you can't learn if you literally can't go. While we always complain about the 66k a year tuition, seeing CMU make attempts to bring in new students who otherwise would not have been able to afford it makes me very happy. I know for the Presidential scholars this year, almost a fourth of the recipients were involved in the arts (design, music, and theater) and 51% were females. This inclusion shows me that CMU is making a effort to diversify the campus in terms of interest, gender, and class. It's great.
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