"Such lawsuits, which are frequently based on patents that should never have been granted, typically cost millions of dollars to defend. These suits are a plague on innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Courts can help address this problem by determining the validity of patents early and with appropriate care. In this case, Judge Davis did just that, and set a great example for future cases." Red Hat supplied the legal defense for Rackspace through its Open Source Assurance program, which is designed to boost confidence in open source development. Uniloc sued over use of a mathematical formula that it said violated a patent the firm holds. The case was filed last June. However, the judge in the case dismissed it, citing a Supreme Court decision that mathematical formulas are "unpatentable." "This is a major victory for open source software," said Michael Cunningham, general counsel at Red Hat. "We are gratified to have beaten another patent for open source and for our customer.