March 28, 2015
France Telecom SA, et al. v. Novell, Inc.
Novell purchased security software from a third party for use in its NetWare workgroup operating system. The plaintiffs alleged that the software infringed one of its patents.
Econ One was retained by counsel for the defendant to review and assess the damages analysis conducted by the plaintiffs’ expert, form an opinion as to the reasonableness of the conclusions drawn, and form its own opinion regarding the amount of a reasonable royalty. The plaintiffs’ expert claimed that Novell owed more than $70 million in reasonable royalty payments to the plaintiffs. Dr. Jeffrey Leitzinger submitted an expert report that concluded the costs of available alternative technologies provided an upper bound for a reasonable royalty payment of no more than $100,000. The case ultimately was dismissed (with prejudice).
