Three Firms Sued over Bluetooth Patents

The Washington Research Foundation has sued three companies for violating its patents which could impact on the use of Bluetooth in mobile phones. The non-profit group, which seeks commercial uses and enforces patents for technology developed at Washington's public universities is suing Matsushita of Japan and its US division at Panasonic along with the US offices of Samsung and Nokia.

The lawsuit, which was filed late last month in US District Court in Seattle seeks unspecified damages and an injunction barring the companies from selling those products. The institute cites several patents, all named to Edwin Suominen, who was an undergraduate at the University of Washington in the mid-1990s.

The institute also notes that the only permitted licensee for the patents is Broadcomm, who is in the middle of a bitter patent battle with Qualcomm.

The institute is specifically targeting mobile phones containing the Bluetooth chips from British chip maker CSR. CSR itself has not been sued by Washington Research Foundation."

Posted to the site on 5th January 2007