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Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is one of the foremost legal scholars in the United States, particularly on economic matters. He has written numerous influential opinions and almost forty books on law and economics, teaches at the University of Chicago Law School, and is widely respected in the legal community. And two of his recent …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/03/patent-infringement-damages-under-fire/
In AVM Technologies vs. Intel Corporation, USDC for Delaware, case No. 10-610-RGA (February 21, 2013), Plaintiff’s damage expert witness was excluded entirely, thus gutting a case that the trial court acknowledged was otherwise worth $300 million or more. Recent patent cases emphasize the use of comparable licensees in determining a reasonable royalty, but have also …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/03/another-plaintiff-patent-damage-expert-gets-excluded/
The IRS has had a whistleblower program for decades, but it was not widely used and not much was paid to whistleblowers. In February 2013, the IRS issued its annual FY 2012 report to Congress regarding use of Section 7623. The report shows substantial increase in the information reported by whistleblowers and the IRS consideration …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/02/irs-whistleblower-program-grows/
In the Estate of Virginia Kite vs. IRS, T.C. Memo 2013-43 (February 7, 2013), affluent taxpayers were given support for a potentially substantial estate planning tool. This is a significant decision. The Tax Court described the underlying facts as follows: “Under the terms of the annuity transaction, the Kite children would begin payments to Mrs. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/02/private-annuity-transaction-upheld-as-an-estate-planning-tool/
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report on January 30, 2013 regarding the debt buying industry and the related debt collection efforts of the buyers. The FTC indicated that this is the first major empirical study of debt buying and related collections. Debt buying and related collection practices are of concern. The FTC states: …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/02/ftc-study-on-debt-collection-buying-hints-at-need-for-greater-regulation/
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) just released a fascinating paper entitled “Chronicle of a Decline Foretold: Has China Reached the Lewis Turning Point?” The paper explains that Chinese population controls will cause the number of Chinese working adults to peak between 2020 and 2025. At this point, a “precipitous” drop of working age population will …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/02/chinas-changing-demographics-will-dramatically-impact-the-world-economy/
Valuation in an eminent domain case is necessarily accomplished through experts. In County Of Glenn vs. Patrick Foley (California Third Appellate District, case no. C068750, November 26, 2012), the Trial Court was reversed with directions. The trial court had excluded the property owner’s valuation expert, thus effectively eviscerating the property owner’s case. The subject property …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/12/california-appellate-court-criticizes-expert-witness-exclusion-in-eminent-domain-case/
In Carnegie Mellon University vs. Marvell Technology Group (Western District of Pennsylvania, Case no. 09-290), the jury awarded $1.17 billion in reasonable royalty damages. This is one of the largest patent infringement damage awards ever. Marvel indicated it will appeal. Recently, large damage awards have not fared well on appeal, thus generating a number of …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/12/huge-patent-infringement-damage-sets-the-stage-for-further-federal-circuit-guidance-on-reasonable-royalties/
A Northern District of California case (Brandywine Communications Technologies, LLC, vs. Cisco Systems, Inc., Case C 12-01669 WHA), provides an analysis of the damage disclosure requirements that a plaintiff has in a patent infringement case. It applies equally to any commercial dispute. The Court started with the damage disclosures under FRCP 26(a)(1)(A)(iii), which states: A …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/12/another-example-of-a-plaintiff-waiting-too-long-before-addressing-damages/
On December 4, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a statement bragging about the money it had recovered. In reality, the government had much less to do with this than the private citizens and their lawyers who filed qui tam False Claim Act cases on behalf of the U.S. when the U.S. declined to take …
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Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/12/qui-tam-suits-recovering-extraordinary-amounts/
