ai-soft.com

SAP AG (SAP), the world’s largest maker of
business-applications software, was told by a jury to pay $345
million for infringing a Versata Software Inc. patent.

The federal jury in Marshall, Texas, said today that
closely held Versata was owed compensation for sales of certain
SAP enterprise and customer relationship-management software
sold prior to May 2010. The jury awarded $260 million for lost
profits and $85 million as a reasonable royalty.

The damages are more than the $138.6 million Walldorf,
Germany-based SAP was ordered to pay Versata in a 2009 verdict
that was thrown out. U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham
had ordered a new trial because of rulings by an appeals court
specializing in patent law that set new rules on how financial
penalties should be calculated.

Versata will seek an injunction to stop the infringement,
Scott Cole, a lawyer with McKool Smith who represented the
Austin, Texas-based company, said following the verdict.

“This has been four hard fought years, and the evidence
clearly shows that SAP’s use of our intellectual property caused
harm,” Cole said. “It was a valuable invention.”

SAP May Appeal

SAP said it’s disappointed with the judgment and is
considering whether to appeal.

“We have said all along this is a very complex case,”
Andy Kendzie, a company spokesman, said in a telephone
interview. “Our attorneys are reviewing today’s filing and we
will consider all legal options.”

The patent covers software that can help sales staff
determine the most recent price for products and services. SAP
told jurors that customers weren’t buying its software for that
feature, so any patent royalties should be low.

Versata shouldn’t have been able to claim that it lost
profit because the company hadn’t sold any of the software,
called Pricer, SAP argued in court papers before the trial.
Versata claimed it was undercut by SAP and pushed out of the
market.

The original $138.6 million award was based on the entire
market value of SAP products, which the company said was unfair.
In an Oct. 6, 2009, filing, SAP argued that the largest amount
supported by the evidence is $2.03 million.

The case is Versata Software Inc. v. SAP America Inc.,
07cv153, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
(Marshall).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bill McQuillen in Washington at
bmcquillen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Allan Holmes at
aholmes25@bloomberg.net

SAP AG (SAP), the world’s largest maker of
business-applications software, was told by a jury to pay $345
million for infringing a Versata Software Inc. patent.

The federal jury in Marshall, Texas, said today that
closely held Versata was owed compensation for sales of certain
SAP enterprise and customer relationship-management software
sold prior to May 2010. The jury awarded $260 million for lost
profits and $85 million as a reasonable royalty.

The damages are more than the $138.6 million Walldorf,
Germany-based SAP was ordered to pay Versata in a 2009 verdict
that was thrown out. U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Everingham
had ordered a new trial because of rulings by an appeals court
specializing in patent law that set new rules on how financial
penalties should be calculated.

Versata will seek an injunction to stop the infringement,
Scott Cole, a lawyer with McKool Smith who represented the
Austin, Texas-based company, said following the verdict.

“This has been four hard fought years, and the evidence
clearly shows that SAP’s use of our intellectual property caused
harm,” Cole said. “It was a valuable invention.”

SAP May Appeal

SAP said it’s disappointed with the judgment and is
considering whether to appeal.

“We have said all along this is a very complex case,”
Andy Kendzie, a company spokesman, said in a telephone
interview. “Our attorneys are reviewing today’s filing and we
will consider all legal options.”

The patent covers software that can help sales staff
determine the most recent price for products and services. SAP
told jurors that customers weren’t buying its software for that
feature, so any patent royalties should be low.

Versata shouldn’t have been able to claim that it lost
profit because the company hadn’t sold any of the software,
called Pricer, SAP argued in court papers before the trial.
Versata claimed it was undercut by SAP and pushed out of the
market.

The original $138.6 million award was based on the entire
market value of SAP products, which the company said was unfair.
In an Oct. 6, 2009, filing, SAP argued that the largest amount
supported by the evidence is $2.03 million.

The case is Versata Software Inc. v. SAP America Inc.,
07cv153, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
(Marshall).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Bill McQuillen in Washington at
bmcquillen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Allan Holmes at
aholmes25@bloomberg.net

Incoming search terms:

• versata sap case
• SAP Versata Trial
• versata sap
• Versata Software Inc v SAP America Inc 07cv153

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In a move to become more competitive in the fast-growing field of video chat, the team behind AOL Inc.’s AIM instant messenger rolled out the first version of a free video chat service on Thursday that doesn’t require users to log in or download any software.

Called AV, the service was created as a way to have quick, easy video chats, Jason Shellen, a leader of the AIM team, said. Though there are plenty of other voice and video chat offerings available for computers and smartphones, AV is unlike many with its decision to eschew both logins and software downloads.

In order to start a chat, a user gets a unique link from AV and sends it to friends. Once a friend with a webcam clicks on the link, a chat window will pop up on the screen and show live video of the user who started the chat session and any other participants. Up to four people can be involved in a chat at once, Shellen said.

The service has several features, such as the ability to type messages to individual users while video chatting – to send a link to a webpage, for example. The originator of the chat session also has the ability to remove others from that chat. Other features will arrive in the next few weeks, Shellen said, including one called “Group Shot” that allows you to take a photo of everyone participating in the chat at once.

AV, which is located at http://www.aim.com/av, uses Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash software. This means it will not work on an iPad or iPhone, but it will work on a PC and may work on some Flash-running smartphones. Shellen said his team is starting to explore making it available for other platforms and as a mobile app.

Initially, there is no plan for AOL make money from AV, Shellen said.

AV’s release comes two days after Microsoft Corp. said it would pay $8.5 billion for popular Internet phone service Skype, which allows people to make free and cheap voice and video calls.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In a move to become more competitive in the fast-growing field of video chat, the team behind AOL Inc.’s AIM instant messenger rolled out the first version of a free video chat service on Thursday that doesn’t require users to log in or download any software.

Called AV, the service was created as a way to have quick, easy video chats, Jason Shellen, a leader of the AIM team, said. Though there are plenty of other voice and video chat offerings available for computers and smartphones, AV is unlike many with its decision to eschew both logins and software downloads.

In order to start a chat, a user gets a unique link from AV and sends it to friends. Once a friend with a webcam clicks on the link, a chat window will pop up on the screen and show live video of the user who started the chat session and any other participants. Up to four people can be involved in a chat at once, Shellen said.

The service has several features, such as the ability to type messages to individual users while video chatting – to send a link to a webpage, for example. The originator of the chat session also has the ability to remove others from that chat. Other features will arrive in the next few weeks, Shellen said, including one called “Group Shot” that allows you to take a photo of everyone participating in the chat at once.

AV, which is located at http://www.aim.com/av, uses Adobe Systems Inc.’s Flash software. This means it will not work on an iPad or iPhone, but it will work on a PC and may work on some Flash-running smartphones. Shellen said his team is starting to explore making it available for other platforms and as a mobile app.

Initially, there is no plan for AOL make money from AV, Shellen said.

AV’s release comes two days after Microsoft Corp. said it would pay $8.5 billion for popular Internet phone service Skype, which allows people to make free and cheap voice and video calls.

As I was catching up on the news in my hotel room I read over on Boy Genius Report that a software update for the HTC ThunderBolt was rolling out so I quickly went to settings and check for new software to see that an update was indeed available for my HTC ThunderBolt.

I love my ThunderBolt, but hate that it can’t maintain a consistent WiFi hotspot session. I am hopeful that this update fixes this issue, but won’t be able to test it until later this evening when I return to the Seattle area with 4G coverage. According to Verizon’s official ThunderBolt update page (PDF file) there is no specific mention of an improvement in the WiFi hotspot feature, but they do list enhanced data connectivity so maybe that covers it. Here is the list of affected areas in the update:

• Enhanced data connectivity when accessing Verizon 3G network.
• SMS and MMS messages are stored properly in the Messaging application.
• Time for device activation is improved.
• Backup Assistant is correctly displayed in Applications menu.
• Stability improvements for data centric apps like Facebook, Kayak, Yahoo! Mail, and more.
• Accurate location is displayed when accessing the weather widget.
• Quickly load GPS updates for Google maps and VZ Navigator.

As you know, the ThunderBolt had issues switching back to 3G with the recent LTE outage so maybe this will be fixed. I have often been placed half way around the world when viewing the weather widget so this will be a convenient improvement to see. I never use text messaging on my ThunderBolt, I didn’t buy any message service, so never noticed that issue.

The update is 35.649 MB and takes the ThunderBolt from software build number 1.12.605.6 to 1.13.605.7 and the baseband from 1.16.00.0223r to 1.16.00.0402w_1. I am hopeful that this update fixes my WiFi hotspot issues and if it does the ThunderBolt will stay in my collection and if not, I may consider switching to the Droid Charge that reportedly works better with the WiFi hotspot feature.

Anyone notice improved features on their ThunderBolt?

Incoming search terms:

• htc thunderbolt whatsapp initializing
• thunderbolt software builds
• Thunderbolt wont sleep
• vz navigator problem initializing gps htc thunderbolt
• www modail9 pom