Post by Logan on Jul 4, 2016 4:11:05 GMT -6
A lawsuit filed by Harvard University against microchip giant Micron Technology is the latest patent suit brought by a big university that could result in a major cash windfall, though educational institutions
filing infringement suits over federally funded research has drawn criticism.
“It seems to me maybe they looked at the math on this and thought there’s a lot of money to be made here,” said David Olson, a patent law professor at Boston College. “For a lot of universities it’s not a source of income, but if you’re Stanford or MIT or Harvard, there’s a lot of potential there.”
Harvard recently sued Micron Technology and GlobalFoundries — two microchip manufacturers — claiming the companies infringed on patents awarded to Harvard between 2001 and 2009 based on research conducted at the university. Micron has a market cap of more than $13.5 billion, while GlobalFoundries is privately owned.
“The patented technology is essential to key components of electronic products such as computers and cellphones,” Harvard said in a statement. “Their efforts revolutionized the manufacture of semiconductor components, made better computers available around the world, and contributed to the growth of the information economy.”
Read more: www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/2016/07/harvard_is_latest_college_to_file_infringement_lawsuits
“It seems to me maybe they looked at the math on this and thought there’s a lot of money to be made here,” said David Olson, a patent law professor at Boston College. “For a lot of universities it’s not a source of income, but if you’re Stanford or MIT or Harvard, there’s a lot of potential there.”
Harvard recently sued Micron Technology and GlobalFoundries — two microchip manufacturers — claiming the companies infringed on patents awarded to Harvard between 2001 and 2009 based on research conducted at the university. Micron has a market cap of more than $13.5 billion, while GlobalFoundries is privately owned.
“The patented technology is essential to key components of electronic products such as computers and cellphones,” Harvard said in a statement. “Their efforts revolutionized the manufacture of semiconductor components, made better computers available around the world, and contributed to the growth of the information economy.”
Read more: www.bostonherald.com/business/technology/2016/07/harvard_is_latest_college_to_file_infringement_lawsuits