HP

Intellectual Property Analysis of Progressive’s U.S. Patent No. 7,124,088

On January 12, 2011, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company filed a patent infringement lawsuit against a group of its competitors. The suit claims that Allstate, Liberty Mutual and Safeco have all infringed on Progressive’s U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,124,088 (hereafter ‘088) and 6,064,970. The patents in question describe and protect an online insurance policy system and vehicle monitoring system. Two weeks after the lawsuit was filed using patent ‘088, a continuation of this patent 7,877,269 (US ‘269) was granted to Progressive, containing largely similar claims.

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Analysis of the Intellectual Property behind the Dell v. Hewlett-Packard Bidding War for 3PAR, Inc.

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of 3PAR, Inc. On September 2, 2010, Hewlett-Packard weathered a bidding war with Dell Computer for 3PAR, offering $2.3 billion, or $24 a share, for the company -- almost $1.15 billion more than Dell's original offer for the company.

In the frenzy of attempting to place the winning bid, neither HP nor Dell fully considered the potential liabilities associated with owning 3PAR's intellectual property. For $2 billion, HP may have purchased the right to settle over $3 billion of new patent lawsuits.

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ArcSight: HP Bets Long on the Collapse of the Patent System

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of ArcSight, Inc. On September 13, 2010, Hewlett-Packard entered into an agreement to buy ArcSight, a leading security and compliance management company, for $43.50 per share, for a total purchase price of $1.5 billion. ArcSight had been shopping itself around to several large technology companies, several of which reciprocated in their interest.

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Isilon Systems: Traversing the Acquisition Minefield

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Isilon Systems, Inc. M&A activity in the technology sector has heated up dramatically in the past month as companies scramble to strengthen their IP positions and acquire key personnel. News of imminent rollups in the storage and security sectors specifically has driven speculation into the identity of the next impending targets.

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Dot Hill Systems and CommVault Systems: Reading Between the Hype

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Dot Hill Systems and CommVault Systems. M&A activity in the technology sector continues to be white-hot in the wake of Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of ArcSight and 3PAR. As in previous weeks, news of imminent rollups in the storage and security sectors has driven further speculation into the identity of the next impending targets.

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Intellectual Property Analysis of Mirror Worlds LLC v. Apple Inc.

This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Mirror Worlds Technologies, Inc., namely those highlighted in Mirror Worlds LLC v. Apple Inc., 08cv88, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Apple has historically been quite successful at predicting consumer preferences and has capitalized on their foresight to drive consumer demand. Their enviable position of success has opened the door to both legitimate and opportunistic lawsuits concerning their intellectual property.

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