Supreme Court takes up Cisco patent dispute

(AP)—The Supreme Court is taking up a patent infringement dispute between computer networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. and rival Commil USA LLC.

The justices said Friday they will consider a federal appeals court's decision to throw out a $64 million jury verdict against Cisco for allegedly infringing Commil's patent for wireless technology.

A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the jury should have considered evidence of Cisco's good-faith belief that Commil's patent was invalid.

Commil argues that the appeals court's ruling undermines the Patent Act's ability to deter infringement. But Cisco says its reasonable belief that the patent was invalid can be raised as a defense.

The case will be argued in March.

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