Court Awards Internet Machines $1 Million in Patent Lawsuit

Case Filed: Feb 02, 2010

Case Closed: Jun 19, 2013

Court: Texas Eastern District Court

Judge: Michael H. Schneider

Case Summary:

Internet Machines, a developer of PCI Express switch and bridge chips filed a suit against Alienware, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell Computer, IDT, Nvidia, and others over PCI Express patents (US7421532 and US7454552). The ‘552 patent, which covers PCI Express switches involving certain transparent ports and methods for transporting data between those ports, was issued in November 2008, while the ‘532 patent was issued in September 2008. The patents expire[*] by Nov 18, 2024 and are currently assigned[†] to Internet Machines (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database). 

In the complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendants violated the patents by making use of the methods or devices covered by the ‘332 and ‘352 patents. Plaintiff sought judgment in favor, permanent injunction and damages. 

Several of the defendants, including Dell, Alienware Corporation, Club 3D B.V., Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia Corporation, Vrose Microsystems, Freedom USA, ATI Technologies, ULC, were dismissed from the suit in the interim period. Integrated Device Technology was dismissed from the case after reaching a settlement with the plaintiff. Recently, jury rendered its final verdict and ordered:

• Defendants PLX Technology, Cyclone Microsystems, Extreme Engineering Solutions, GE, National Instruments Corporation and Vadatch infringed the claims asserted in the patents.
• The patents are valid and enforceable.
• Plaintiff is awarded damages of $980,340.20 (PLX Technology), $1,098.54 (Cyclone Microsystems), $4,993.92 (Extreme Engineering Solutions), $4,504.32 (GE), $7,441.92, (National Instruments Corporation) and $20,150.10 (Vadatech).

See 6:10-cv-00023 for more details. To get alerts on cases filed/closed, subscribe to our Litigation Alerts.

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[*] Expected expiration date. Patent Term Estimator is a free web-based tool that automatically calculates patent terms and expiration dates for U.S. utility patents.

[†] MaxVal offers Patent Assignment Alert service where subscribers receive email alerts when assignments relating to target applications, patents or entities of interest are recorded.