This inventor holds 17 USPTO granted patents and 15 published patent applications, plus 3 CIPO patents and 5 EPO patents. Top assignees: Uniloc USA, Inc., Haventec Pty Ltd, Uniloc Luxembourg S.a.. Active years: 1996-2026.
Location History:
- Brookvale, AU (1996)
- Huntington Beach, CA (US) (2002)
- Irvine, CA (US) (2010 - 2014)
- Ewingsdale, AU (2020 - 2022)
- Suffolk Park, AU (2022)
- Coopers Shoot, AU (2022)
Company Filing History:
5 out of 7 
4 out of 5 
4 out of 55 Years Active: 1996-2026
The $388 Million Question: How One Patent Made Microsoft Pay Attention
Ric Richardson taught software to ask one polite question: “Is this really your computer?” His U.S. Patent 5,490,216 tied software licenses to the machine running them, and it became an early blueprint for modern product activation.
In 2009, a Rhode Island jury awarded his company, Uniloc, $388 million against Microsoft — among the largest patent verdicts ever. The judge set it aside; on appeal, infringement was reinstated, damages went back for a rethink, and the parties settled in 2012 on undisclosed terms.
A scenic route, but he arrived.
Today, from Byron Bay, he works with a small team on hardware trust boundaries for AI agents, age verification, and outcome-based ransomware detection, bringing them to market through licensing and partnerships.
The goal: security that's architectural, not bolted on — fitting, for a man who once worked out of a Ford Transit van and still knew exactly where the load-bearing walls should go.