A US-based research foundation has sued mobile phone makers Nokia, Samsung and Matsushita-owned Panasonic over an alleged infringement of a patent for Bluetooth wireless data technology.
In a complaint filed at the US Western District Court of Washington State at Seattle, the Washington Research Foundation said: “Defendants have manufactured, used, imported into the United States, sold and offered for sale devices which, or the use of which, infringes at least the ‘963’ patent.”
The research institute is targeting products containing Bluetooth chips from a chip manufacturer called CSR which is the world leader for the chips that connect electronic devices like headsets, cameras and mobile phones wirelessly. CSR is not targeted in the present lawsuit.
The Washington Research Foundation, which says it is acting on behalf of the University of Washington, is the owner of the patents in dispute.
It said it had already secured a licence over the technology from Broadcom, one of the biggest makers of communications chips, that would cover any consumer device that employ Bluetooth chipsets made by Broadcom.
By John Kennedy
