Patent Infringement | "HTC Must Face IPCom Patent-Infringement Claim in U.S. Court"

By: Susan Decker 
Source: http://www.businessweek.com 
Category: Patent Infringement 

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- HTC Corp., the world’s largest maker of mobile phones using Google Inc.’s Android system, must face a patent-infringement claim brought by IPCom GmbH in a U.S. court.

An appeals court said today that a lower court judge in 2010 was wrong to invalidate an IPCom patent that the closely held company was using against HTC in a dispute over mobile- device base stations. The case is being sent back to the judge, who can consider additional arguments on the validity of the patent, according to the ruling posted on website of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.

HTC, based in Taoyuan, Taiwan, sued Pullach, Germany-based IPCom in 2008 to challenge the patent, which covers a way to maintain service as a mobile phone moves from one coverage area to another. The companies have sued each other in the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

IPCom is seeking royalties from a family of mobile- technology patents it acquired in 2007 from Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest automotive supplier. IPCom bought the patents after Bosch failed to license them to Nokia Oyj in 2003.

In addition to patent claims against HTC, IPCom has sued stores in Germany that sell HTC’s 3G mobile phones.

The case is HTC Corp. v. IPCom GmbH, 11-1004, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington). The lower court case is HTC Corp. v. IPCom GmbH, 08cv1897, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington).

--With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg, Karin Matussek in Dusseldorf and Aoife White in Brussels. Editors: Romaine Bostick, Jeffrey Tannenbaum

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-30/htc-must-face-ipcom-patent-infringement-claim-in-u-s-court.html