Silicon Valley video company PrediWave loses $2.8 billion judgment
Silicon Valley video technology provider PrediWave has been nailed with a $2.8 billion judgment for defrauding a Chinese company and misappropriating funds — in what appears to be the largest legal victory for a Chinese company in a U.S. court.
VentureBeat first mentioned the case last year.
China’s New World TMT said it invested $700 million into Fremont-based PrediWave, but the set-top boxes PrediWave delivered didn’t work. PrediWave’s chief executive Tony Qu allegedly made off with more than $100 million in bonuses, leasing 30 cars and purchasing 19 homes. Other spending included $10,000 in wine purchases. The Mercury News today provides more details about the verdict.
This comes around the same time that a Chinese court honors the validity of drug maker Pfizer’s patent for Viagra, ordering two Chinese companies to stop sales of generic versions of the sexual dysfunction treatment and pay compensation for infringements.
The cases are unrelated, but nice exchange nonetheless, given the U.S. continued concern about China’s policy on IP infringement.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
