The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by Centripetal Networks Inc to reinstate the largest award in the history of U.S. patent law – $2.75 billion – to be paid by Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) in a cybersecurity patent dispute.
The justices turned away Reston, Virginia-based cybersecurity company Centripetal’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to negate the award after the judge who presided over the trial disclosed that his wife owned Cisco stock worth $4,688.
Judicial conflicts of interest have attracted heightened attention since the Wall Street Journal last year reported that dozens of federal judges had violated federal law by hearing lawsuits involving companies in which they or their families owned stock.
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