LeClairRyan, working closely with Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP of Palo Alto, California, obtained a favorable opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in their ongoing representation of Business Objects S.A. and Business Objects Americas, Inc., the world’s leading provider of business intelligence solutions. Dana J. Finberg and David J. Sensenig worked on the case, both at trial and on appeal.
On November 17, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a published opinion affirming the earlier victory Business Objects obtained in the trial court in a patent infringement and business tort case initiated by MicroStrategy, Incorporated.
The Court of Appeals agreed with a June 2004 summary judgment decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Norfolk Division) that Business Objects’ Broadcast Agent Publisher does not infringe on Microstrategy’s US Patent # 6,260,050, and affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of those patent infringement claims. In addition, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s decision to dismiss with prejudice the vast majority of MicroStrategy’s business tort claims, which included claims of trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, and conspiracy. Significantly, agreeing with the District Court’s opinion that the expert damages study offered by MicroStrategy did “not pass the red face test,” the Court of Appeals confirmed that MicroStrategy will not receive any damages as a result of its dismissed patent infringement and business tort claims. While the Court of Appeals did remand for further proceedings a claim alleging interference with a non-solicitation clause in MicroStrategy’s employment agreement, it explicitly noted that “MicroStrategy will have difficulty in showing any damages associated with this claim.”
News releases regarding this case: Business Objects Prevails Against MicroStrategy in Appeal of Patent Infringement and Business Tort Case Business Objects Prevails in Patent Infringement Litigation Against Microstrategy Business Objects Announces Dismissal of Microstrategy's Tortious Interference Claim