Japan says no to AI patent; Micron hit with $445M verdict

Chipmaker Micron Technology owes computer-memory company Netlist $445 million in damages for violating Netlist's patent rights in memory-module technology for high-performance computing, a U.S. jury said on Thursday. Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas agreed with Netlist that Micron's semiconductor-memory products infringed two Netlist patents related to technology for improving the capacity and performance of memory modules. The jury also concluded that Micron infringed the patents willfully, which could lead to a judge multiplying the damages by up to three times. Netlist sued Micron in 2022, alleging that three of its semiconductor memory-module lines infringed its patents. Micron denied the allegations and raised several defenses, including arguments that the patents were invalid. A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal invalidated one of the patents in April, which could eventually reduce the size of the verdict.

美陪审团周四裁定，芯片制造商美光科技侵犯了Netlist公司在高性能计算内存模块技术方面专利权，需赔偿4.45亿美元。美国得克萨斯州东区联邦地区法院的陪审员一致认为，美光的半导体内存产品侵犯了Netlist的两项专利，这些专利涉及改善内存模块容量和性能的技术。陪审团还认定，美光故意侵犯了这些专利，这可能导致法官将赔偿金增加至高达三倍。Netlist于2022年起对美光提起诉讼，指控美光的三条半导体内存模块生产线侵犯了其专利。美光否认了这些指控，并提出了几项辩护，包括声称这些专利无效。美国专利和商标局今年4月份无效了其中一项专利，因此最终判决金额可能会被减少。

News Corp announced Thursday it has struck a content-licensing deal with OpenAI. The deal allows OpenAI to use content from News Corp’s publications and their archives to answer queries and train the artificial intelligence company’s technology. The deal is reportedly valued at about $250 million. The agreement comes five months after the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for infringing on its copyright by using millions of the company’s articles to train its ChatGPT online chatbot. Several other news outlets, including The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet, have also filed lawsuits against OpenAI saying it is misusing their articles to train its chatbot. “This partnership comes at a critical time for OpenAI, which faces multiple lawsuits from content creators,” Alon Yamin, CEO of AI-content detector platform Copyleaks, said in a statement. “The collaboration between OpenAI and News Corp could influence how Ai developers and media organizations interact, setting new standards for ethical content sourcing.”

新闻集团周四表示，已与OpenAI达成了一项内容授权协议。该协议允许OpenAI使用新闻集团的出版物及其存档内容以回答查询并训练OpenAI公司的技术。据悉，该协议的价值约为2.5亿美元。该协议达成前5个月，《纽约时报》起诉了OpenAI和微软。《纽约时报》指控OpenAI和微软通过使用其数百万篇文章来训练ChatGPT在线聊天机器人，侵犯了其版权。此外，The Intercept、Raw Story和AlterNet等其它新闻媒体也对OpenAI提起诉讼，称其滥用他们的文章来训练其聊天机器人。人工智能检测平台Copyleaks首席执行官 Alon Yamin在一份声明中表示：“这一合作伙伴关系对于OpenAI来说正值关键时刻，因为其正面临多起来自内容创作者的诉讼。OpenAI与新闻集团之间的合作可能会影响AI开发者和媒体组织之间的互动，树立内容来源伦理的新标准。”

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【双语周刊】4. 《纽约时报》起诉OpenAI及微软侵犯版权作品

AstraZeneca owes Pfizer $107.5 million in damages, a Delaware federal jury said on Friday after finding that AstraZeneca's blockbuster lung cancer drug Tagrisso violated its Wyeth unit's patent rights. The jury agreed that AstraZeneca's drug infringed two patents covering methods for treating cancer with the breast-cancer drug Nerlynx. Pfizer, which acquired Wyeth in 2009, sued AstraZeneca in 2021. It argued that Tagrisso used kinase inhibitors to treat cancer in the same way as Nerlynx. AstraZeneca denied infringing the patents and argued that they are invalid. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly will reportedly hold a separate bench trial on some of AstraZeneca's remaining defenses in June, which could result in a ruling that negates the verdict.

特拉华州联邦陪审团周五表示，阿斯利康的畅销肺癌药物Tagrisso侵犯了辉瑞子公司Wyeth的专利权，应向辉瑞支付1.075亿美元的赔偿金，陪审团一致认为，阿斯利康的药物侵犯了两项专利，两项专利涉及利用乳腺癌药物Nerlynx治疗癌症的方法。辉瑞于2009年收购了Wyeth，并于2021年起诉了阿斯利康，称Tagrisso使用激酶抑制剂治疗癌症的方式与Nerlynx相同。阿斯利康曾否认侵犯了这些专利，并声称专利无效。据悉，美国联邦地区法官Matthew Kennelly还将于今年6月进行一次单独的审判，以审理阿斯利康的提出的一些其它抗辩，最终可能会导致该裁决被推翻。

Last Friday, a Delaware federal court has overturned a jury's decision that Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify owes $40 million in damages for infringing patents related to website-building technology. U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews said that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's findings that Shopify infringed the patents, which belong to patent-holding company Express Mobile. A Shopify spokesperson called the decision "a significant victory in the battle against patent trolls." Express Mobile sued Shopify in 2019, arguing that Shopify's website-building tools infringed its patents related to software for providing content to mobile devices. A federal jury said last year that Shopify owed Express Mobile a lump sum of $40 million for infringement. Express Mobile has reportedly sued dozens of tech companies for allegedly infringing the same and other patents, including Google, Meta and Amazon.

上周五，特拉华州联邦法院推翻了一起陪审团裁决，该裁决裁定加拿大电子商务平台Shopify因侵犯与网站建设技术相关的专利而需支付4000万美元的赔偿金。美国联邦地区法官Richard Andrews表示，陪审团关于Shopify侵犯专利持有公司Express Mobile专利的裁决缺少充足的证据支撑。Shopify的一位发言人称该决定是“打击专利流氓的一次重大胜利”。Express Mobile于2019年起诉了Shopify，称Shopify的网站建设工具侵犯了其与向移动设备提供内容的软件相关的专利。陪审团去年裁定Shopify因侵权应向Express Mobile支付总计4000万美元的赔偿。报道称，Express Mobile还以包括相同专利在内的多项专利侵权为由，起诉了包括谷歌、Meta和亚马逊在内的数十家科技公司。

Sony Music has sued Marriott in a lawsuit made public on Monday in Delaware federal court, accusing the hotel chain of using more than 900 of its artists' songs without permission in Marriott advertisements on social media platforms. The lawsuit could make Marriott liable for more than $139 million in statutory damages under U.S. copyright law. According to the complaint, Sony Music told Marriott in 2020 that social media pages associated with its hotels were using Sony Music recordings without its authorization. The lawsuit said Sony Music's notices have continued through this March. Sony Music also said that Marriott's infringement is continuing, with at least 47 new instances in May alone. The complaint said that Marriott's ads "rob Sony Music of the substantial licensing revenues it is entitled to."Sony Music asked the court for an order blocking Marriott from using its music in addition to monetary damages.

据周一公开的一起诉讼显示，索尼音乐在特拉华州联邦法院起诉了万豪酒店，控该连锁酒店在社交媒体平台的广告中未经许可使用了超过900首其艺人的歌曲。根据美国版权法，万豪酒店可能将承担超过1.39亿美元的法定损害赔偿责任。起诉书称，索尼音乐在2020年就曾通知万豪酒店，其酒店关联的社交媒体页面在未经授权的情况下使用了索尼音乐的录音。索尼音乐的通知一直持续到今年三月。索尼音乐表示，万豪酒店的并未停止其侵权行为，反而仅在5月份就至少新增了47个侵权案例。诉状称，万豪酒店的广告“剥夺了索尼音乐应得的大量许可收入。”索尼音乐要求法院下令禁止万豪酒店使用其音乐，并要求获得赔偿金。

Moderna said last Friday the European Patent Office had upheld the validity of one of the company's key patents, a win in an ongoing COVID-19 vaccine dispute with Pfizer and BioNTech. The company has been locked in a legal battle with Pfizer-BioNTech over their COVID shot Comirnaty after suing them in 2022 for allegedly copying its mRNA technology. Pfizer and BioNTech have countersued, alleging that Moderna's patent is invalid. Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna are also involved in parallel proceedings related to their patents in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England and the U.S. Last month, a Massachusetts federal court put a patent lawsuit on hold, while the U.S. Patent Office determines whether two of the three Moderna patents at issue are valid.

Moderna上周五表示，欧洲专利局维持了该公司一项关键专利的有效性，标志着其在与辉瑞和BioNTech持续的新冠疫苗纠纷中取得了一次胜利。自2022年起，Moderna指控辉瑞和BioNTech抄袭其mRNA技术，并因此提起诉讼，双方一直处于法律纠纷中。辉瑞和BioNTech曾提起反诉，声称Moderna的专利无效。报道称，辉瑞、BioNTech和Moderna在德国、荷兰、比利时、英国和美国均卷入了相关专利的平行诉讼。上个月，马萨诸塞州联邦法院暂时搁置了一起专利诉讼，等待美国专利局裁定三项Moderna相关专利中的两项是否有效。

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【双语周刊】6. 辉瑞、BioNTech 就COVID-19疫苗专利对Moderna提起反诉