Jury rules Cisco owes $70 million for patent fraud
On Friday evening, a jury ruled that Cisco owes patent licenser XpertUniverse Inc $70 million in damages for obtaining patented technology in a fraudulent manner, Reuters reported. The jury ruled that Cisco owed an additional $34,000 for violating two XpertUniverse patents, as well.
XpertUniverse, a New York-based company, brought the case in the US District Court of Delaware. The company said that Cisco violated non-disclosure terms agreed upon when the two organizations started working together in 2004. The agreement stated “Cisco would distribute technology XpertUniverse had developed to efficiently match customers with call center experts,” wrote Reuters. Cisco ended the relationship in 2007 and one year later launched its “Expert on Demand” service that, for example, a company might use to set up a hotline for its customers. XpertUniverse brought its suit in 2009.
