Roedy Green wrote:
> A judge overturned a jury finding that Microsoft
> violated patents in its Media Player.
> I am not a big fan of software patents.
> They are nearly always bogus patents on the wheel.
> However, I question a judge having the power to
> overturn a jury. Surely a jury is harder to bribe
> or intimidate than a single judge.
Only the original trial judge can set aside the jury's verdict as far as
the /facts/ go, and that is very rarely done.
What this judge ruled was that (as Microsoft had claimed all along),
Microsoft having paid a license fee to Fraunhoffer (an uncontested
fact), Alcatel-Lucent were not entitled to a double-dip fee from
Microsoft. This is a question of law, not fact, and a judge can always
step in on questions of law.
--
John W. Kennedy
"Sweet, was Christ crucified to create this chat?"
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"
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