Last week, a Rhode Island federal court ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay $388 million to Uniloc USA Inc. for willful infringement of software patents. Uniloc USA Inc., et al. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 03-440, (D. R.I. 2009). The verdict is said to be one of the largest patent infringement jury awards in U.S. history. Related Posts: Oh Microsoft, Microsoft , Moderation Please: Rhode Island Seemingly Applies Frye in Microsoft Patent Infringement Trial, Colin Miller, EvidenceProf Blog. Will Microsoft’s Latest IP Loss Stick?, Zusha Elinson and Alison Frankel, Incisive Media. Microsoft Gets Slammed in Yet Another Patent Suit, Ashby Jones, Wall Street Journal. Technorati Tags: law, Uniloc v. Microsoft, software patent infringement

Today, the Second Circuit decided ReliaStar Life Ins. Co, of N.Y. v. EMC Nat’l Life Co., No. 07-0828 (2nd Cir. Apr. 9, 2009). The court held that inclusion in an arbitration agreement of a broad statement that each party will bear the expenses of its own arbitrator and attorney’s fees does not deprive the arbitration panel of authority to award those expenses as a sanction against a party whom the panel determines failed to arbitrate in “good faith.” The court explained that an arbitrators’ finding of bad faith gives rise to an exception to the general rule that each party bears their own expenses. Thus, the arbitration panel did not exceed its authority in awarding attorney’s and arbitrator’s fees. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, Second Circuit, attorney’s fees, arbitrator’s fees

As the U.S. Supreme Court and consumer studies on arbitration praise the benefits of arbitration, the 111st Congress is advancing a bill that would ban arbitration in consumer mortgage contracts. H.R. 1728 proposed by Rep. Miller (D- NC), titled the “Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009,” would Amend the Truth in Lending Act of 1968. The bill provides, among other things, that “[n]o residential mortgage loan and no extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan secured by the principal dwelling of the consumer, other than a reverse mortgage may include terms which require arbitration of any other nonjudicial procedure as the method for resolving any controversy.” Status: Referred to the house Committee on Financial Services on 03/26/2009. See related posts: Plaintiffs Bar Pushes Capitol Hill Agenda (Mar. 31, 2009) by David Ingram, Legal Times. Conversations about Studies Regarding Arbitration (Apr. 1, 2009), National Arbitration Forum Blog. Consumers Won More than Half of Arbitrations Studied (Mar. 12, 2009) by Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, legislation, consumer, Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, Truth in Lending Act of 1968

In Nat’l Resort Mgmt v. Cortez, No. 08-10805 (5th Cir. Mar. 31, 2009), the Fifth Circuit cited Hall Street v. Mattel and Citigroup v. Bacon, stating that “the number of grounds for challenging an arbitration award has been substantially reduced.” The two-paragraph unpublished opinion affirmed the lower court’s ruling. The court added that “given the deference accorded to arbitration awards, there is no flaw in this proceedings that would justify upsetting the result” and further stated that “counsel for the movants is warned that such attacks on the integrity of an arbiter should not be leveled without sufficient grounds.” Related posts: Fifth Circuit: Life After Hall Street (Mar. 17, 2009) Dead? Alive? Matter of Opinion? (Dec. 4, 2008) Rau Responds (Jun. 9, 2008) Rau Gives Souter a C-minus (Jun. 5, 2008) Glen Wilkerson on Hall Street v. Mattel (Apr. 19, 2008) No Longer Can You Craft Your Own Arbitral Standard of Review (Mar. 26, 2008) Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law, FAA, manifest disregard of the law, Citigroup Global Markets, Hall Street, Supreme Court, National Resort Management