Rolls Royce, Apple, Righthaven, LVMH: Intellectual Property

Rolls-Royce Group Plc must lower the $3.7 billion in damages sought in a patent lawsuit against United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney because the jet-engine maker overstated the effect of competition, a judge ruled.

Estimates for engine prices, units sold and the value of service contracts are “based on misstatements of the law, a lack of sound evidence, and unsupported economic assumptions,” U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, said in a May 4 ruling. Brinkema didn’t say what the damages can be should Rolls-Royce prove during trial that Pratt used a patented design for engine fan blades without permission.