Then why does congress get this kind of protection when private citizens suspected of a crime do not?
They do. It's called a Grand Jury. Although sometimes the media gets the information anyway, like in this case.
at least Toyota banks mad cash on their prius in the mean time.
Actually, that's sort of the problem for Toyota. They got hit with a patent judgment over their hybrid vehicles in eastern Texas a couple of years ago. The plaintiff was awarded nearly $100 a vehicle as an on-going royalty (which is about 17% of Toyota's relatively slim profit margin).
So I agree. Kudos to Toyota for playing the game like it should be played. They got hit pretty hard and they needed to fight fire with fire. Good for them.
In what may be the largest patent jury verdict in US history, an Eastern District of Texas jury held Abbott Labs liable for $1.67 billion in damages for infringing Centocor's patents covering antibodies against tumor necrosis factor. Abbott's drug Humira (adalimumab) was found to infringe. That drug is used to reduce treat arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and ankylosing spondylitis and had $4.5 billion in sales last year.
See Patently-O for the full article and the jury form.
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