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[MThanded]

A U.S. jury ordered Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) to pay $1.17 billion in damages that may be tripled for infringing patents on integrated-circuit technology held by Carnegie Mellon University.

Marvell, which makes chips for computers and mobile phones, fell 85 cents or 10 percent, to $7.40, in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 p.m., following the verdict today in federal court in Pittsburgh.

The jury found Marvell’s infringement willful, providing a basis for U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to increase the award by as much as three times, according to a statement by K&L Gates LLP, the law firm representing the university.

Investors are concerned about the potential for triple damages, Kevin Stadtler, president of Stadtler Capital Management, which holds a short position on Marvell and stands to benefit if the stock drops, said in an e-mail. The penalties may force Marvell to raise capital by issuing shares, said Stadtler, whose company is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daniel Yoo, a spokesman for Hamilton, Bermuda-based Marvell, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail and telephone call seeking comment.

Filtering Noise
Carnegie Mellon sued over use of the two patents, issued in 2001 and 2002, that cover ways to detect data stored on a computer’s hard-disk drive by filtering out noise or unwanted electrical signals. The school in a March 6 complaint said at least nine types of Marvell’s circuits use its inventions.

“We are gratified by the jury’s unanimous verdict,” Ken Walters, a spokesman for the school in Pittsburgh, said in an e- mailed statement. “This case deals with fundamental technology for increasing the accuracy with which hard-disk drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks.”

Marvell had revenue of $2.95 billion for the year ended Jan. 31.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...o-pay-1-dot-17-billion-for-infringing-patents

As a current PhD student in the ECE department at CMU, this hits pretty close to home.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Title made me think it was either Marvel comics or this dude:

 

[tokkun]

Same thing happened with my school and Intel a few years back. Intel retaliated by pulling research grant funding and suspending recruiting, so the result was largely a net negative for the students.

 

[Aroo]

Same thing happened with my school and Intel a few years back. Intel retaliated by pulling research grant funding and suspending recruiting, so the result was largely a net negative for the students.

Any more info? Curious about this.

 

[DY_nasty]

Thought this was about MAHVEL and Casual Friday Morrigan

 

[dabig2]

Same thing happened with my school and Intel a few years back. Intel retaliated by pulling research grant funding and suspending recruiting, so the result was largely a net negative for the students.

You're a Wisconsin guy, right? I remember them settling, but didn't hear about that other stuff.

 

[tokkun]

Any more info? Curious about this.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/university_of_wisconsin_settle.html

 

[Somnid]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

 

[aceface]

Did they patent Spiderman or some shit? Damn.

 

[kehs]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

That's the problem with privatized education.

 

[Tinkleberry]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

.....what?! why wouldn't they hold patents? Their students/professors work belong to the school. More money brought into the school = more money to spend on research.

 

[dabig2]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

To be honest, I'd rather the universities hold these patents instead of some faceless, unaccountable corporate entity who just raids university research for their own profit and ,most likely, doesn't give anything back.

Ideally, I agree with you but it's just the world we live in.

 

[Joates]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

Really? So corps should reap all the benefits of breakthroughs made by a uni?

 

[Somnid]

.....what?! why wouldn't they hold patents? Their students/professors work belong to the school. More money brought into the school = more money to spend on research.

Any academic institution is there to teach, not to self-preserve and not to obstruct proliferation and usage of knowledge. If the discoverer wanted to hold a patent then that is their business, not a university's.

Really? So corps should reap all the benefits of breakthroughs made by a uni?

Yes as should anyone else. Unless Carnegie Mellon plans on building hard drives nobody benefits from this.

 

[Joates]

Yes as should anyone else. Unless Carnegie Mellon plans on building hard drives nobody benefits from this.

Because I'm sure they refuse to license the technology...

 

[QuiteWhittle]

Yes as should anyone else. Unless Carnegie Mellon plans on building hard drives nobody benefits from this.

Wouldn't the licensing of said patents provide money for new research as well as more grants/scholarships/financial aid for students?

 

[tokkun]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

That used to be the way it was; the government attached strings to funding that required that discoveries and inventions be made freely available to the public.

However in the past couple decades, government funding to public universities has been slashed. As a consolation, universities were told they could patent and license discoveries to make up for the lost money.

I personally favor your view of the way things should be, but it's pretty easy to see how the new system plays into the ideals of fiscal conservatives.

 

[The Technomancer]

Wouldn't the licensing of said patents provide money for new research as well as more grants/scholarships/financial aid for students?

Is how I view it. Its only problematic if the Uni refuses to license. On reflection, and this idealistic and would require much actual tempering, Universities perhaps shouldn't be allowed to refuse licensing, but they are entitled to compensation. The intrinsic problem there of course is that the Uni could effectively refuse by jacking up the cost, and so then you need another agent to evaluate the worth of ideas and thats a huge can of worms...

 

[Phat Michael]

I don't understand why a university private or otherwise would hold patents. It's completely counter to everything a respectable university should stand for (though I understand those are a rarity). Academic institutions should lay no business claim to any knowledge.

Are you kidding? Patents are a large source of University income. They get a cut of any product/invention which brings in income as usually the University pays for all the patent rights and handles all the legal issues when a professor or his team develop something.

Go to NYU and talk to their Chemistry department and check out the number of patents they have going on its insane.

 

[Affeinvasion]

You better hope that you don't invent something that'll make you rich while working at a university because you won't see a dime of it if you used any of the school's resources.

 

[ronito]

Marvell will have a hard time absorbing this. I've dealt with them before. they're a brute force company but they only have a 3.9 billion market cap this is like a third of that.
Cypress, Altera and others will be waiting to pounce to buy up some cheap patents.

 

[DarkFlow]

Marvell will have a hard time absorbing this. I've dealt with them before. they're a brute force company but they only have a 3.9 billion market cap this is like a third of that.
Cypress, Altera and others will be waiting to pounce to buy up some cheap patents.

They also want to maybe triple that 1.1 billion. So at almost 3.5 billion, that are pretty much done.