Visto to receive $267.5 Million agreement

Working with lead counsel to Visto, which in May reached an agreement to receive $267.5 million from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, settles a three-year patent dispute.

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Judge Upholds Verdict, Enhances Damages, Issues Permanent Injunction

Damages Total more than $290 Million

The national law firm of McKool Smith is announcing a permanent injunction and total damages and interest of more than $290 million against software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a Texas patent infringement lawsuit won by Toronto-based technology provider i4i Inc.

The Order and Permanent Injunction were signed today by Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Today’s ruling follows a May 20, 2009, verdict of $200 million after jurors found that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft willfully infringed an i4i patent covering a document system that relies on the XML custom formatting function.

During the trial, attorneys from McKool Smith and Tyler, Texas-based Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth successfully argued that Microsoft infringed the i4i patent issued in 1998, U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449, which covers software designed to manipulate “document architecture and content.” The software covered by the patent removed the need for individual, manually embedded command codes to control text formatting in electronic documents.

Read more at the Mckool Smith website

See some of the trial animations by Pranamedia here

Practice

Yolgnu preparing for Garma.

Tide Trails in the Sand

Micro riverbeds formed as the tide recedes for the morning.

Pranamedia Goes "Down Under"

This last month, we visited the Northern Territory of Australia to experience today's Aboriginal Yolgnu. We met some wonderfully incredible people and a magical country to say the least. When you're in this part of the country, you really do become more aware of the world around you. With dangers everywhere (saltwater crocodiles, sharks, stingrays, the most poisonous snakes and spiders in the world, water buffalos) you learn to look carefully at EVERYTHING. It's only then do you really see the beauty in the most minute details this world provides for us. In our "evolved" human life of today's world we're too safe. We miss so much.

When you are living on the land in a place such as this, watching everything, you start to see our position on this earth, between the wind and sand, the patterns and rhythms are living and breathing all around us. Simplicity often brings enlightenment, and in this case you see that we succeed by living in conjunction with the world, not in conquering it.

We also experienced how technology and global growth are affecting these people. The Yolgnu struggle with the influx of outside influence such as the mining on their sacred land, cell phones, video games, money, alcohol, drugs, sugar, flour, TV, etc. How do we balance simplicity with technology and the rapidly changing world we live in?

Perhaps less really is more. we're not saying 'no' to technology. Resistance is futile as they say. We have to evolve with the world around us, and technology is here to stay. Perhaps it's just a matter of knowing when to say when. Knowing how and when to use it. Knowing how to see the value in the simplest of details that live and work around us everyday. Something to think about...

Click here to see some photos