NTP, known for its years-long legal tussle with BlackBerry-maker RIM, is now after Apple, HTC, LG Electronics, Microsoft and Motorola, for what it says are infringements of patents related to mobile e-mail.
NTP is now the latest smartphone-arena company to file a patent-related lawsuit.
On July 8, NTP filed patent lawsuits against six of the industry's
biggest players - Apple, HTC, LG Electronics, Microsoft and Motorola -
in a United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The lawsuits accuse the manufacturers of infringing on eight patents
related to "the delivery of electronic mail over wireless
communications systems."
In a July 9 statement on the suits, NTP describes its founder, Tom Campana, as being the inventor of wireless e-mail.
"Use of NTP's intellectual property without a license is just plain
unfair to NTP and its licensees," Donald E. Stout, NTP's co-founder,
said in the statement. "Unfortunately, litigation is our only means of
ensuring the inventor of the fundamental technology on which wireless
e-mail is based, Tom Campana, and NTP shareholders are recognized, and
are fairly and reasonably compensated for their innovative work and
investment. We took the necessary action to protect our intellectual
property."
NTP was previously involved in a years-long legal struggle with
Research In Motion. In 2001, it sued the BlackBerry maker for what it
said were infringements on nine of its patents for wireless e-mail.
After years of legal maneuverings, in 2006, RIM agreed to make a
one-time payment of $612.5 million to NTP, in exchange for being able
to continue offering its e-mail services.
According to NTP, following its litigation with RIM, the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO) began to re-examine some NTP patents. In
its July 9 statement, NTP said it had additionally filed an appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals, asking that the USPTO's remaining rejections
of NTP patent claims - several claims under investigation were earlier
found to be valid - be overturned.
"The filing of suit today is necessary to ensure that those companies
who are infringing NTP's patents will be required to pay a licensing
fee," said Stout. "In view of the USPTO Board's ruling, the debate over
whether Mr. Campana was an originator in the field of wireless e-mail is
over. No patents in U.S. history have received as much scrutiny as
NTP's patents. We are delighted that the USPTO Board has recognized the
groundbreaking innovation of Mr. Campana by confirming 67 of NTP's
patent claims. We are also confident that the USPTO's rejections, which
are on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,
will be overturned."
NTP currently has licensing agreements with Good Technology, Nokia and Visto, in addition to Research In Motion.
For Apple, the NTP suit is likely just one more matter to keep its legal team busy. On March 2, Apple sued smartphone rival HTC over issues of patent infringement, and on May 12, HTC sued back,
likewise claiming that Apple infringed on some its patent. Apple has
similarly been trading legal documents with Nokia, which on Oct. 22,
2009, filed a suit against Apple, alleging that it violated 10 Nokia
patents. Apple soon sued back, accusing Nokia of violating 13
Apple-owned patents. The two have since gone back and forth again, and
no resolution is expected in the near-term. On March 12, Reuters
reported that Apple and Nokia have requested that trials for their
respective suits be heard in mid-2012.
In March, Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics also filed a complaint against Apple,
this one with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging that
the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook and Magic Mouse infringe on
an Elan patent for multitouch technology.
Additionally, since its June 4 launch of the iPhone 4, Apple has had still two more suits filed against it.
The first, in a District Court in San Francisco, accuses Apple of
perpetuating fraud by selling a device it allegedly knew to have
antenna issues. The second, filed in a District Court in Maryland,
ropes in AT&T as well, and accuses the two of a number of
wrongdoings, including deceptive trade practices, intentional
misrepresentation and fraud by concealment.
None of the companies named in the recent NTP filing has released an official response to the allegations.
Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.
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