Aussie appeals Microsoft patent win

Claims judge was biased.

It looks like the Aussie inventor who won a patent case against Microsoft for $388 million only to have the jury's verdict overridden by the judge has appealed.

Australian inventor Ric Richardson told the Sydney Morning Herald that the possibility the judge was biased ought to be looked at seriously.

US District Judge William Smith this week reversed an earlier decision by a jury to award the whopping sum to Richardson.

The jury unanimously decided that the Vole had infringed Richardson's patent relating to technology designed to deter unauthorised copying of software.

Richardson said that existing case law should be explored because it's highly irregular for a judge to overrule a jury and, given the history of the case, his possible bias must be considered.

It is the second time that Judge Smith has ruled in favour of the Vole in the case. The first time he wanted to chuck the case out without even putting it to a jury trial. That decision was overturned on appeal.

When the jury ruled in favour of Richardson, Smith decided to set its verdict aside in favour of the Vole. He claimed that the jury didn't know what it was doing.

Richardson said he believed the jury's verdict was thoughtful, well reasoned and supported by the evidence presented.

Smith and Richardson are not the best of friends. During the first appeal his lawyers asked that a new judge be appointed to handle the case but that request was denied.

Richardson's company Uniloc had claimed the judgment was tainted because Judge Smith had employed an intern with ties to Microsoft to help review the evidence, although the appeals court found that did not have a material impact.

The appeals court didn't think the judge was biased because the intern had no financial stake in the outcome of the case.