A Delaware federal jury said Comcast is on the hook for about $27.6 million after finding that the company infringed on two Sprint patents tied to fiber optic data delivery, Law360 reported Friday.
Noting that Sprint had sought $28 million, Law360 said the jury made the decision following less than a full day of deliberation in the one-week trial, which centered on two patents. Sprint argued that Comcast was saving millions through its alleged infringements.
Update: According to court documents, the two patents in question (U.S. No. 5,742,605 and U.S. No. 6,108,339) both describe synchronous optical network using a ring architecture -- essentially SONET systems for use in large geographic areas that utilize “self-healing” rings that are interconnected.
Comcast vowed to continue the fight.
“We are disappointed with today’s decision and believe the evidence shows Comcast does not infringe Sprint’s patents,” a Comcast spokesman said in an emailed statement “We do plan to pursue post-trial motions and want to thank the jury for their time and thoughtful consideration.”
Comcast was on the other side of a different case last October, when a the U.S. District Court, District of Delaware ordered Sprint to pay Comcast $7.5 million after finding Sprint was infringing on telecom-related patents. In that case, Comcast had asked for $16.5 million, according to Bloomberg.
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