Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Others Face Antitrust Suit - thomasexprooking

A company that controls 100 patents has filed an antitrust complaint against Motorola, LG, Samsung, Dell, and HTC, expression that they have conspired to refuse to negotiate with the ship's company.

"Defendants receive contractile, combined and conspired to keep trade by jointly refusing to negotiate or take on licenses under the Cascades patents," patent owner Cascade Range Computer Innovation alleged in the befit. "Defendants' goal is to military group either a drastically reduced royalty for rights under the Cascades patents or no royalty payment at all."

Cascades has a difficult battle ahead, but if it succeeds, information technology could make joint defense agreements, which are increasingly used by technology companies, illegal, said Jay Levine, an antitrust litigator with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

Cascades has previously separately sued some of the companies, alleging that they infringe one of its patents that enables the installation of apps on Android devices.

But in its newest suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week, it claims that through with RPX, a company that protects customers from patent infringement claims by nonpracticing entities, the defendants make broken antitrust laws. RPX is also named in the wooing.

In 2010, RPX approached Cascades about getting licence rights to whatever of its patents, making a "satisfying offer on behalf of its members," Cascades alleges. For the deal to happen, companies including Motorola, HTC and others would hold been required to contribute to the settlement, which would receive been a "high seven-figure payment to Cascades," IT said.

However, RPX ended negotiations with Cascade Mountains and withdrew its offer when one or more of its members wouldn't fund the deal, Cascades said.

"The several manufacturing defendants all agreed among themselves and with RPX non to negotiate independently with Cascades and to present a unified, concerted effort to controvert licensing and enforcement of the Cascades patents, with the objective of causing Cascades to abandon its efforts, accept a below-market-value offer by RPX or survive out of business organization by virtue of the expense of litigation," the suit reads.

Hood to Prove

Cascade Range will in all likelihood have a hard sentence proving that the companies decided together not to negotiate with Cascades, Levine same. Cascades offers up that totally the companies are RPX customers, deuce of them are represented by the same police force firm and that they all without reasoning refused an offer from Cascade Mountains that would potentially cost them very little money.

"All of that is going to comprise indirect evidence, there are no vexed facts," Levine said. "That's departure to be unrivaled of the biggest obstacles they'll have to overcome in a motion to send away."

The defendants are belik to argue that they did act independently, deciding that there was no reason to take a license, he aforementioned. They'll likely say that even though RPX started and complete negotiations with Cascades, that's no indication that there was a conspiracy, he said.

To boot, Cascades bequeath have a hard time credible a judge that competitor generally has been harmed, as needed aside law, rather than only that Cascades was injured, he said.

If Cascades does manage to prompt forward and advance the case, it would have a significant impact connected a maturation manufacture made up of companies like RPX trying to protect vendors from patent suits. "It would be expression that these joint defense agreements in which companies take a ordinary stance may personify illegal under antitrust Laws," Levine aforementioned.

"If this casing has legs to IT, this could present difficulties in a number of litigation contexts where defendants try to ensure that they keep a Northern Alliance," atomic number 2 said.

Motivation Questioned

Cascades may have taxonomic group reasons for filing this suit aft previously suing Dingle, HTC and Motorola for manifest infringement. "If they have any qualms about either the validity of the patents or whether device makers are maybe making the devices in always that don't infringe, then this Crataegus oxycantha be an easier target in their eyes," Levine aforesaid. "One additional explanation would be to gain leverage in the infringement suit and try to make for the defendants to the table to negotiate a license."

Motorola declined comment on the suit. RPX said it is aware of the suit but doesn't comment on pending litigation. HTC is reviewing the ailment and doesn't expect to point out further on that, a spokesperson said.

Dell said it plans to defend itself against the allegations. "Cascades is alleging that by refusing to settle its unsupported patent violatio claims, Dell is piquant an lawless conspiratorial refusal to deal with Cascade Mountains," it said in a statement. "Dell denies these new allegations, will defend the new case, and seek judicial reliever against Cascades."

LG and Samsung did not reply to a request for comment.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Chitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's email dea is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/469086/motorola_htc_samsung_and_others_face_antitrust_suit.html

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