10 Attention-Grabbing Tech Lawsuit Pay-Outs

10 Attention-Grabbing Tech Lawsuit Pay-Outs The world's biggest technology companies spend hundreds of millions - and even billions - each year in legal fees. Competition is fierce in the tech industry and businesses occasionally cut corners to stay ahead - with serious financial ramifications if they get found out. Apple and Samsung battled it out in the courts in 2012 in a patent case that made global headlines and resulted in the latter being ordered to pay a staggering $1.05bn in damages. Here we look at that case and chart other astronomical pay-outs following legal action against some well-known tech firms in the last decade. $1.4BN $1.1BN $1.05BN $750M $1.1M $571M $500M $368M $306M $290M 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 The European Commission (EU) fines Microsoft a record $1.4bn for %24 FEBRUARY 1.4BN 2008 NO anti-competitive behaviour. 01 EQUIVALENT TO: 5.2 MILLION XBOX 360s 250GB @ $269 EACH Microsoft agrees to give away vouchers totalling $1.1bn to settle private lawsuits for overcharging customers %24 1.1BN JANUARY 2003 NO 02 EQUIVALENT TO: WINDOWS SURFACES 2.2 32GB @ $499 EACH %24 A US court orders Samsung to pay Apple $1.05bn in a high-profile smartphone patent case. AUGUST 2012 NO 03 12 EQUIVALENT TO: 2.6 MILLION IPHONE 5 HANDSETS 64GB @ $399 EACH Microsoft settles a lawsuit and agrees to pay $750m to AOL Time Warner for unfairly crushing competition. P2.1BN MAY 2003 NO 04 Office Professional 2010 COPIES OF EQUIVALENT TO: MICROSOFT 2.2 MILLION OFFICE PRO $349 EACH Þ612M MARCH Research In Motion, the makers of BlackBerry, 2006 agrees a $612m settlement with NTP to end a NO 05 long-running BlackBerry patent battle. rOlackdery EQUIVALENT TO: BLACKBERRY 1.1 MILLION BOLD 9900s $549 EACH Three companies (AU Optronics Corp, LG Display Co and Toshiba Corp) agree to pay $571m to settle a lawsuit over price fixing. 571M JULY 2012 NO 06 TOSHIBA EQUIVALENT TO: 4.1 MILLION TOSHIBA BDX5300 3D BLU-RAY PLAYERS @139 EACH 24 DISH Network and EchoStar agrees to pay TiVo $500m to a resolve a patent case over DVR technology. MAY 500M 2011 NO 07 EQUIVALENT TO: TIVO® PREMIERES @ $149 EACH 3.5 MILLION Apple infringes four patents and a Texas court orders them to pay VirnetX, an Internet security company, over $368m. 368M NOVEMBER 2012 NO 08 EQUIVALENT TO: 13-INCH MACBOOK PROS RETINA DISPLAY (3.5GHZ) @ £1,999 EACH 306M AUGUST SAP AG (SAP) loses a copyright-infringement lawsuit and is ordered to $306m to Oracle Corp, the 2012 NO 09 largest maker of database software in the world. Patents, Registered Designs, Trade Marks & Copyright EQUIVALENT TO: DUMMIES 17 MILLION COPIES OF THE BOOK PATENTS, REGISTERED DESIGNS TRADE MARKS AND COPYRIGHT FOR DUMMIES A Reference for the Rest of Us! The US Supreme Court denies Microsoft's 290M JUNE 2011 appeal against a $290m pay-out to Canadian ON 10 company i4i for patent infringement. EQUIVALENT TO: XBOX 360 WIRELESS 5.9 MILLION CONTROLLERS @ $49 EACH Image Credits Statistic credits Brought to you by first4lawyers.com *first4lawyers amazon.com/Xbox-360-Pro-20-GB/dp/B00309S9YW news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7266629.stm amazon.co.uk/CaseGuru-Premium-Function-Microsoft-Black/d news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2648815.stm p/B00A1F22JG find the right lawyer for you telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9498541/Apple-wins-1.05bn- from-arch-rival-Samsung-in-patent-case.html amazon.co.uk/iPhone-Hybrid-Rubberised-Cover-Shield/dp/B00 8OSEQ64 money.cnn.com/2006/03/03/technology/rimm_ntp/ amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Office-Professional-2010-DVD/dp/B00 6H2PPT6 bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-11/auo-lg-toshiba-settle-antitrus t-case-lawyer-says.html amazon.co.uk/BlackBerry-Bold-9900-Free-Smartphone/dp/B00 echostar.com/NewsEvents/Press%20Releases/PressRelease. 58GWR8O aspx?prid=%7B65086C39-A846-4388-9587-7C924CBBB458 gadgetreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/bluray-bdx5300 -600-02 jpeg %7D virnetx.com/viretx-awarded-over-368-million-verdict-against-a news.cnet.com/8301-13579 3-57495598-37lapples-set-top-box -cure-a-tivo-acquisition pple/ amazon.co.uk/Apple-13-inch-MacBook-2-5GHZ-Graphics/dp/B news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20070308-75/supreme-court-ru 008BEYEL8 les-against-microsoft-in-i4i-patent-case/ amazon.co.uk/dp/0470519975/ amazon.com/Xbox-360-Wireless-Controller-White/dp/B000B6 MLUA H Microsoft H Microsoft