Legal News
Posted on 10/07/2009
Microsoft on Friday mounted a last-ditch effort to get a U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling in a long-running patent infringement case involving its Word software.
Last month, the court denied Microsoft's appeal of an injunction in the case involving Toronto-based firm i4i, which last year won a $200 million court case against Microsoft pertaining to technology built into Word 2007 and Office 2007 that's used to customize XML code. That figure has since grown to $290 million in interest and fines levied by judge on the grounds of "intentional infringement."
The i4i patent describes a way to manipulate the architecture and content of a document, particularly for data representation and transformation, by removing dependency on document-encoding technology.
After last month's ruling, Microsoft said it would remove the disputed feature from new copies of Word 2007 and Office 2007 and have them ready for sale in time for the court ordered Jan. 11 deadline. Nonetheless, Microsoft has insisted all along that it's not guilty of infringement and is taking one last stab at getting the judge to see things its way.
A California appeals court ruled in favor of octuplets mother Nadya Suleman Friday, denying a call for an independent guardian to monitor her children's finances.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana called the petition an "unprecedented, meritless effort by a stranger" and directed an Orange County probate court to vacate its order for an investigation into the family's finances.
Paul Petersen, an advocate for children in the entertainment industry, argued that Suleman's children were vulnerable and that an independent guardian should be appointed to look after their financial interests.
The appeals court said the probate judge erred because Petersen failed to show that Suleman was engaging in financial misconduct.
Suleman gave birth to octuplets on Jan. 26, 2009. The medical curiosity of their delivery turned to public outrage when it was learned that the single, unemployed mother had been caring for her six other children with the help of food stamps and Social Security disability payments for three of the youngsters.
William James once said, “In any project the important factor is your belief. Without belief there can be no successful outcome.” Dr. Jack Kevorkian believes... and believes... and believes in every terminal patient’s right to physician-assisted suicide. He famously said that “dying is not a crime.” Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s something you’re tremendously passionate about. And that is the simple reason why Geoffrey Fieger became the lawyer for “Dr. Death,” Dr Jack Kevorkian. Both Jack and Geoff forced us to pay attention to one of the biggest elephants in society’s living room: the fact that today vast numbers of people are alive who would rather be dead, people who have lives not worth living.
On the November 22, 1998, broadcast of 60 Minutes, Jack aired a videotape he had made on September 17, 1998, which showed the voluntary euthanasia of Thomas Youk, 52, an adult male of sound mind, who was in the final stages of ALS. After Youk provided his fully-informed consent on September 17, 1998, Jack himself administered a lethal injection to Youk. During the videotape, Jack dared the authorities to try to convict him or stop him from carrying out assisted suicides. This incited the prosecuting attorney to bring murder charges against Jack, claiming he had single-handedly caused the death of Youk. On March 26, 1999, Jack was charged with first-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance. Jack was found guilty of second-degree homicide and the judge sentenced him to a 10-25 year prison sentence. Kevorkian was denied parole repeatedly. Terminally ill with Hepatitis C, which he contracted while doing research on blood transfusions in Vietnam, Jack was expected to die within a year in May 2006. He was paroled on June 1, 2007. He spent 8 years and 2 1/2 months behind bars rather than the predicted 10–25 years. Jack said he would abstain from assisting any more terminal patients with death, and his role in the matter would strictly be to persuade states to change their laws on assisted suicide. He is also forbidden by the rules of his parole from commenting about assisted suicide. Today, The Insider Exclusive will go “Behind the Headlines” as we visit with Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s lawyes, including his former trial lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, and his current lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, as well as journalist Jack Lessonberry, who has written extensively about Jack.
Mayer Morganroth is a high distinguished attorney who represented, among others, former Detroit Michigan mayor Coleman Young, and John DeLorean. In one of the most important "David-versus-Goliath" legal battles of recent years, it was Mayer Morganroth whose consummate legal skills won a $19 million dollar judgment for Murray Hill Publications against media giant 20th Century Fox in 2001. The best proof of the talent and skill of an attorney is that he is selected by another high-profile lawyer who is looking for legal help. Such was the case when Geoffrey Feiger, himself a nationally renowned attorney (with whom Mayer has worked in defense of Jack Kevorkian), asked Mayer to represent him in a recent case. But even in the sometimes electric atmosphere of a courtroom, Mayer is ingenious in displaying another of his many skills: the ability to assess a situation and handle it with just the right amount of seriousness-- or, if need be, just the right amount of levity.
A former emergency room doctor who deliberately braked in front of two bicyclists, causing them to crash and suffer serious injuries in the road rage incident, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
Christopher Thomas Thompson, 60, was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He was in tears as he apologized to the victims.
"The physical and mental scars are my fault," he said, telling them that he has recurring nightmares about one of the cyclists crashing through the windshield of his car.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Millington said he was concerned about a lack of remorse. The defendant was apologetic today, but remarks he made soon after the crash indicated otherwise, the judge said.
Thompson, who worked at Beverly Hospital in Montebello, has been jailed since he was convicted in November of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, reckless driving and mayhem.
Prosecutors say he had argued with the two cyclists before suddenly slamming on his brakes in front of them on Mandeville Canyon Road on July 4, 2008, causing them to crash and suffer serious injuries. One cyclist who went through the car window suffered broken teeth, cuts and had to have his nose reattached. The other cyclist suffered a separated shoulder after crashing to the pavement.