Wi-LAN Sues Motorola, RIM and UTStarCom

Ottawa-based Wi-LAN says that it has initiated a patent lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division against Motorola, Research in Motion and UTStarCom. Wi-LAN claims these companies have infringed and continue to infringe Wi-LAN's U.S. patents RE37,802 and 5,282,222 by making and/or selling products including mobile handheld devices and other equipment.

Wi-LAN will be represented in this action by McKool Smith, a leading U.S. law firm specializing in intellectual property litigation. McKool Smith is also representing Wi-LAN in two separate actions filed by Wi-LAN on October 31, 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshal Division.

The Company also confirms that it has settled its dispute in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California with Marvell Semiconductor.

Wi-Lan was founded in 1992 to commercialize wireless technology developed by co-founder, Hatim Zaghloul. However, the company moved away from manufacturing and towards holding patents and licensing them to 3rd party companies. Zaghloul resigned from the company at the beginning of 2006 following disputes over this strategy. Last week the company reported revenues of $3.2 million in the second quarter ending in March and predicted sales of $20 million this year.

Posted to the site on 20th June 2008