Sam Oliver
In addition to Apple, the complaint also includes Alcatel-Lucent, Dell, Hewlett Packard, HTC, Kyocera, Novatel, and Sierra Wireless. All of the companies are accused of violating two wireless patents.
The first, U.S. Patent No. RE 37,802, is entitled "Multicode direct sequence spread spectrum. It covers technology related to cellular wireless standards CDMA and HSPA.
The second patent included in the complaint is U.S. Patent No. 5,282,222, "Method and apparatus for multiple access between transcievers in wireless communications using OFDM spread spectrum." It is related to Wi-Fi and 4G long-term evolution technology.
The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Patent infringement lawsuits are frequently filed there in hopes of a favorable outcome for the plaintiff.
Wi-LAN has an established history of targeting technology companies in patent infringement lawsuits, including previous spats with Apple. In 2007, Wi-LAN sued Apple over the use of Wi-Fi, while again last year, Apple was listed among a host of defendants for alleged patent infringement related to Bluetooth technology.
Other companies previously sued by Wi-LAN, which was founded in 1992, include Acer, Comcast, Lenovo, Motorola, Sony, Time Warner and Toshiba, just to name a few. Previous complaints were also filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
Wi-LAN announced Friday that it will be represented by McKool Smith, which it called "a leading U.S. law firm specializing in intellectual property litigation." The same firm is already representing Wi-LAN in its other patent infringement cases in Texas.
Wesley Hilliard
Charles Martin
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
17 Comments
I guess it's too much to expect AI to report if they've ever successfully won a patent suit or forced a pre-trial licensing agreement.
One of the things that never gets reported is that Apple is buying components from others. The things covered in this patent (even if it's valid) are all baseband things - that is, it is functionality provided by the baseband chip provider. As such, if Apple's products are infringing, they should be indemnified by their chip supplier.
Another point is that this patent expires in about 8 months. By the time they get to trial, the patent will be expired, so future licensing or payments for future use are not likely. They can only get paid for prior infringement - which reduces the potential damages quite a bit.
One of the things that never gets reported is that Apple is buying components from others. The things covered in this patent (even if it's valid) are all baseband things - that is, it is functionality provided by the baseband chip provider. As such, if Apple's products are infringing, they should be indemnified by their chip supplier.
Another point is that this patent expires in about 8 months. By the time they get to trial, the patent will be expired, so future licensing or payments for future use are not likely. They can only get paid for prior infringement - which reduces the potential damages quite a bit.
Thank for the info. It is time AI had a new tab for all patent related articles and moved them out of the general articles. Also maybe they should hire a patent expert to cover those stories. They could title the new section , 'News from East Texas'
One of the things that never gets reported is that Apple is buying components from others. The things covered in this patent (even if it's valid) are all baseband things - that is, it is functionality provided by the baseband chip provider. As such, if Apple's products are infringing, they should be indemnified by their chip supplier.
Another point is that this patent expires in about 8 months. By the time they get to trial, the patent will be expired, so future licensing or payments for future use are not likely. They can only get paid for prior infringement - which reduces the potential damages quite a bit.
Where did you see the patent expiring in 8 months? It looks like it had set to expire in Sept of 2009. but was renewed. But the source for that could be wrong.
As an aside, there's something even more interesting about Wi-LAN. They're in the process of trying to buy a company named Mosaid, another Canadian business. Why is that interesting? Because Mosaid just won the rights to enforcement of 2000 Nokia patents in exchange for a cut of the revenue from licensing them.
Expect the lawsuits to just keep on coming. . .
With a lawyer name like McCool Smith, they can't lose.