Rockwell drops lawsuit
Rockwell Drops Lawsuit Against Bay Networks; Bay Networks Continues to Offer Modem Products With a Full Choice of 56k Protocols
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1998--Bay Networks(R), Inc. (NYSE:BAY) announced today that Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Inc. voluntarily dismissed a federal lawsuit it filed against Bay Networks in November 1997. Rockwell withdrew its complaint before Bay Networks had filed an answer, and without any concession or payment from Bay Networks. Rockwell's suit claimed that Bay Networks breached an agreement allowing Bay Networks to use Rockwell's K56flex(TM) modem technology and the K56flex trademark.
"Bay Networks was always in full compliance with its agreement with Rockwell," said Jonathan Sieg, Vice President and General Manager of the Bay Networks Signal Processing Group.
Bay Offers All Three Protocols
The impending ratification of V.90 as the new standard for 56 kilobit-per-second modem communications is expected to end the confusion about competing 56k protocols. However, all three protocols, K56Flex, X2, and V.90 will continue to be in use by Internet service providers and consumers for as much as the next two years, Sieg said.
"A lot of existing modems out there are not upgradeable," Sieg said. "Thanks to our patented DSP chip technology, Bay Networks' modems can run two protocols inside the same chipset."
Bay Networks is the only modem maker to support all three protocols. Some of our competitors offer products that can support one pre-standard protocol and V.90. Other competitors offer products supporting only one protocol at a time, forcing consumers to choose between their current protocol and V.90. Bay Networks offers its customers products that support K56Flex and V.90, and products that support X2 and V.90, making it the only company supporting all three protocols.
Bay Networks will begin pilot testing of V.90 modems in the next few weeks.
Rockwell's lawsuit was originally filed in federal court in Orange County, California. |
