A judge has ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay $388 million in damages to Irvine’s Uniloc USA Inc., a maker of network security software, after the software kingpin was found to have infringed on a Uniloc patent.
Uniloc USA, a unit of Australia’s Uniloc Corp. , has developed patents for security software that make a device, usually a computer, usable only by one person.
A district court in Rhode Island determined earlier this week that Microsoft’s Windows XP and some Office programs infringe on Uniloc’s patent for software that prevents people from illegally installing software on multiple computers, according to news reports.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said it’s set to appeal the decision.
A few years ago, Uniloc landed $6.1 million in funding from private equity investors.
