The issue is whether Microsoft Corp. and SAP can bring declaratory judgment actions for non-infringement when 72 of their customers were sued over the use of the technology giants’ software. Microsoft and SAP argue that patent assertion entity DataTern Inc. targeted their customers—but not them—because the customers would be more likely to pay nuisance-value settlements.
Reflecting the charged debate surrounding troll litigation and the pressure on the judiciary to devise solutions, the Nov. 4 arguments set off fireworks, with Chief Judge Randall Rader accusing DataTern of running a “lucrative patent milking business” and Judge Kimberly Ann Moore calling Microsoft and SAP’s arguments “crazy.”
