The ruling stems from a patent battle between HP and researchers at Cornell University.
The Cornell Research Foundation claims that HP violated patents its faculty held regarding processor designs used in the HP PA-8000 processor line.
According to the Cornell Daily Sun, the suit was first filed in 2001 and originally sought US$900 million in damages.
HP is seeking to appeal the most recent ruling in the case, which on March 30 reduced the award from $184 million to $53 million.
The company said that the ruling will cause the company re-calculate its earnings reports, but HP does not expect the case to be an issue for any of its future products as the patent at the center of the suit expired in 2006.
HP has been among the leading voices in the IT industry calling for patent reform.
Executives from Sun, Google and Microsoft have also called for an overhaul of the system and reduce litigation.
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iTnews Executive Retreat - Security Leaders Edition
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