InterDigital Challenges Nokia's ITC 3G Patent Win
By Nick Malinowski
Law360, New York (September 16, 2009) -- Wireless technology company InterDigital Communications LLC has challenged a U.S. International Trade Commission administrative law judge's ruling that found Nokia Corp.'s 3G wireless handsets did not infringe InterDigital patents, asking the agency to submit the decision to a full panel review.
By using impossibly narrow claim constructions in his decision, Administrative Law Judge Paul J. Luckern incorrectly found that Nokia's products infringed none of the four patents-at-issue, even though he found all the patents to be valid and enforceable, InterDigital said in a Sept. 14 filing with the ITC.
In his ruling Judge Luckern attempted “inappropriately and at times inaccurately to force specific details from the specification on the plain meaning of the claims terms,” the motion said.
If the claim constructions and noninfringement determinations were reviewed and reversed, a finding of violation would result, InterDigital said.
With respect to the three power-up patents, which describe the process whereby the receiver and transmitter of a wireless communication distinguish between the relevant link and ambient noise and information in the air, Judge Luckern limited broad terms such as “code,” “signal” and “access signal” so severely that his construction no longer covered the preferred embodiment of the claim and was ultimately inconsistent with the patent itself and conflicted with recognized usage in the field, the motion says.
The fourth patent addresses a method of generating a scrambling sequence for a high speed shared channel, and Judge Luckern again grafted “unjustified limitations” on the claims, ignoring the plain meaning of the language, despite precedent set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit warning against such narrow interpretations, the motion says.
In its motion InterDigital also suggested that Judge Luckern misunderstood the technical goals of some of the patents' claims and incorrectly defined the Nokia products in question.
Although declining to comment specifically on the current dispute, InterDigital spokesman Jack Indekeu said that the company could appeal the finding of the administrative law judge to the Federal Circuit if the ITC does not take up the petition for a full review.
“We strongly believe in the value of our intellectual property portfolio, and we want to make sure that we defend [it],” Indekeu said.
About 50 percent of the 3G market licenses patents of this kind from InterDigital, according to Indekeu, but it has been unable to reach an agreement with Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of cellular phones.
Representatives for Nokia did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but said in an Aug. 15 news release that Judge Luckern's initial determination, issued on Aug. 14, was consistent with previous judgments in the U.K. regarding InterDigital's patents.
"As a leading innovator Nokia respects valid and used IPR and expects others to do the same," Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president, Nokia Legal and Intellectual Property, said in the release. "We are willing to compensate other contributors with what is fair and reasonable for such IPR, however in the case of unrealistic and unwarranted demands, we are prepared to ensure through litigation that our rights are protected.”
Rahnasto said the initial ITC determination provided a “strong indication” that InterDigital may have overstated the value of its 3G patent portfolio.
InterDigital filed the original complaint with the commission in August 2007, alleging that Nokia had engaged in unfair trade practices by importing certain 3G handsets into the U.S. that infringed InterDigital's patents. It asked the judge to stop the imports.
Late in 2008, InterDigital settled with Samsung Electronics Co. in a similar case that was before the commission and involved the same patents. Indekeu said the $400 million settlement resulted in a licensing agreement.
InterDigital is represented by Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP.
Nokia is represented by Alston & Bird LLP.
The patents-at-issue in the case are U.S. Patent Numbers 6,693,579; 7,117,004; 7,190,966; and 7,286,847.
The case is In the Matter of Certain 3G Mobile Handsets and Components, investigation number 337-ta-613, before the U.S. International Trade Commission. |
