As a prior post explains, very few intellectual property litigation cases actually make it all the way through trial. Majority are either settled by the parties or dismissed by the court for one reason or another. However, when a case does make it to trial the stakes can be huge.

The April issue of IP Law and Business magazine listed the top ten intellectual property verdicts in 2006. They are:

Award                           Case Name

$306.9 million                 Hynix Semiconductor Inc. v. Rambus Inc.

$152.7 million                 Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. v. Formosa Plastics Corp.

$133 million                    z4 Technologies v. Microsoft Corp.

$112 million                    Globespan Virata Inc. v. Texas Instruments Inc.

$78.9 million                    Finisar v. DirecTV

$78 million                       AlphaMed Pharmaceuticals Corp. v. Arriva Pharmaceuticals Inc.

$73.9 million                    TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Communications Corp. Inc.

$65 million                       ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co.

$53.5 million                    L.G. Phillips LCD Co. v. Tatung Co.

$52.4 million                    L.G. Phillips LCD Co. v. Tatung Co.

Fortunately, none of these verdicts are against companies in the golf industry. I, like most golfers, would prefer that golf companies spend their money on more R&D for innovative products rather than battling each other in court.
 
David Dawsey – The Golf Patent Litigation Attorney

PS - Surprisingly there is relatively little patent infringement litigation among those in the golf industry, especially considering the size of the industry.