Again, this isn't a patent case. It's a breech of contract case.
For B&N to win, they just have to have convincing evidence that they were working on the nook with substantially the same features as it has now, BEFORE they signed the NDA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbjb
There's also the question of whether the defendant, even if they are confident they don't actually infringe a patent, can afford to take the risk that the jury will get it wrong and find against them. Patent cases often involve deeply technical details, and in the US, at least, are tried by a non-technical jury which frequently doesn't have a chance of understanding the details.
The odds are very much stacked in favour of the plaintiff - they will typically sue for infringement of multiple claims, with a decision being required by the jury for each one. It often takes just one claim to be found in favour of the plaintiff to kill off a product (or company!), so if the jury doesn't really understand, and effectively tosses a coin for each claim, the chances of the defendant winning them all are minimal.
/JB
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