© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Jeff Bounds
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(July 16) – A group of four foreign makers of telecom gear scored a defense win Monday in a patent suit filed by a Canadian technology and licensing firm.
A federal jury in Tyler awarded no damages to Ottawa, Canada-based Wi-LAN Inc. after a nearly three-year court tussle with equipment vendors Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. and Ericsson Inc. and handset makers HTC Corp. and Sony Corp.’s Sony Mobile Communications.
The panel also found that various claims in three of the four patents that WiLAN asserted were invalid, according to a statement from the company and the jury verdict form. The four patents all related to methods for processing data sent via wireless networks.
“WiLAN is disappointed with the jury’s decision and is currently reviewing its options with trial counsel, Vinson & Elkins LLP,” the company said in a statement.
Ward & Smith Law Firm also is representing WiLAN.
The law firms representing HTC included Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton and Findlay Craft. Alcatel-Lucent’s law firms were Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Potter Minton PC. Thompson & Knight LLP and Holland & Knight LLP were among the firms representing Ericsson and Sony Mobile.
Ericsson, which is based in Sweden and has its U.S. base in Plano, said in a separate statement that it was “very pleased” with the jury’s findings. “This is a great win for Ericsson and for the industry,” the statement said.
An Alcatel-Lucent spokesman said the verdict “validates our belief that WiLAN was stretching the boundaries of its patents.”
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