Replies to post #426952 on InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[macc14]

Looks like somebody purchased a LARGE buy about time of announcement.

[Paullee]

Del. Judge Closes 9-Year InterDigital, ZTE Patent Battle
By Britain Eakin

Law360 (January 2, 2020, 6:56 PM EST) -- A Delaware federal judge on Thursday dismissed two infringement suits InterDigital filed against Chinese smartphone maker ZTE after the parties signaled to the court last month they were ready to bury the hatchet in a patent war sparked in 2011.

In late November, InterDigital Communications Inc. and ZTE Corp. told the court they had reached a licensing agreement and intended to end all legal proceedings between them, and accordingly filed a stipulation in both cases on Dec. 30 asking the court to dismiss them.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews’ Jan. 2 orders dismissing both cases were a response to the stipulation.

“Because all parties in this action have stipulated to dismissal, this action shall be dismissed in its entirety,” one of the orders said.

InterDigital’s 2013 suit against ZTE resulted in a jury finding in 2014 that ZTE had infringed several of its rivals’ wireless patents and did not show that the patents were invalid. The Federal Circuit affirmed the jury verdict in 2017, but Judge Andrews stayed that case following the verdict after ZTE lodged challenges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The PTAB decisions ping-ponged between board and the Federal Circuit for years. The PTAB found one of the patents invalid twice, but the Federal Circuit reversed both times, most recently on Nov. 22. A Federal Circuit panel said the PTAB was required to consider whether the patent was obvious based on the grounds it originally instituted, but it said the board instead found the claim obvious based on the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Standards. The panel said that was not allowed because ZTE never raised the standards in its petition..

The parties informed the court several days later on Nov. 25 that they were working on a settlement.

InterDigital, a wireless technology research and licensing company based in Wilmington, first sued ZTE in 2011 alleging that that ZTE’s smartphone technology infringed several InterDitigal patents. InterDitigal’s 2013 suit meanwhile alleged that ZTE’s wireless devices, such as the 4G Hotspot and Flash, infringed three additional InterDitigal patents.

InterDigital also filed a parallel complaint at the International Trade Commission against ZTE and others accusing them of importing 3G and 4G wireless devices that infringe several of its patents but a commission judge cleared ZTE in 2014.

Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Numbers 8,380,244; 7,190,966; and 7,286,847.

InterDigital is represented by Clarissa R. Chenoweth of Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP; Neal C. Belgam and Eve H. Ormerod of Smith, Katzenstein & Jenkins LLP; Ron E. Shulman, Maximilian A. Grant, Bert C. Reiser and Julie M. Holloway of Latham & Watkins LLP; and David S. Steuer, Michael B. Levin and Maura L. Rees of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.

ZTE is represented by Kelly E. Farnan and Travis S. Hunter of Richards, Layton & Finger PA; and Jay H. Reiziss, Charles M. McMahon and Brian A. Jones of McDermott, Will & Emery LLP.

The cases are InterDigital Communications Inc. et al. v. ZTE Corp. et al., case numbers 1:13-cv-00009 and 1:11-cv-00654, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

--Additional reporting by Ryan Davis and Dani Kass. Editing by Peter Rozovsky.