Texas Instruments has been sued by one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world over intellectual property.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., which is based in Japan, brought a lawsuit against the Dallas company for infringing on patents, according to a filing with the U.S. District Court in Waco. At question is technology tied to wifi in the case brought last month.
Essential WiFi LLC, licensee of the patents, in May 2016 provided a letter to Texas Instruments conveying a willingness to license its portfolio of patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, the suit against said. The firm provided “detailed exemplary claim charts explaining the manner in which TI’s accused products infringe,” it said. TI gave no response to the letter, it said. Three more letters that year received no response, it said.
Then on Jan. 9 of this year, Essential WiFi provided a “final offer letter.” TI provided no response, according to the suit that was filed late last month.
“TI has been operating and continues to operate without a license to the patents,” it said. “Given TI’s complete failure to engage in any licensing discussions, to license the patents in suit or otherwise to cease infringing … NTT and EWF initiated this action for the purpose of protecting their patent rights in the” U.S.
TI didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry seeking comment.
Essential WiFi is also a plaintiff in the suit. The parties also brought suits against Acer and MediaTek over patents in the same court last month.
There are four patents at stake that date back more than a decade, the document said.
The plaintiffs are seeking a judgment that the patents are valid and enforceable, among other relief.
“TI’s acts of direct and indirect infringement have independently and collectively caused damage to plaintiffs, and plaintiffs are entitled to recover from TI the damages they have has sustained as a result of TI’s wrongful acts in an amount subject to proof at trial,” the document said.
TI is being represented by Andrea Fair and Wesley Hill of Ward, Smith & Hill. Jia-Geng Lu and Steven Daniels, attorneys in the Austin office of Dickinson Wright, are handling the litigation for NTT.
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