Acer files patent counterclaim against HP
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(InfoWorld) - Acer Inc. has filed a patent counterclaim against rival Hewlett-Packard Co. as part of itsÂ response to two HP lawsuits. The lawsuits come amid a major push by Acer into the U.S. PC market, and brisk global growth. The Taiwanese company's shipments to the U.S., HP's home turf, grew 163.8 percent year-on-year in the most recent second quarter, according to preliminary figures by market researcher IDC. HP has also been gaining market share in PCs at the expense of other rivals such as Dell Inc., but Acer remains the fastest-growing PC maker among the top 10. The counterclaim filed last week by Acer alleges HP has infringed its antenna and DVD-ROM head technology patents. The suit was filed in the same court as theÂ HP lawsuits against Acer, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The HP lawsuits claim that Acer has infringed 10 HP patents related to PCs. The world's largest PC vendor is seeking to block Acer PC imports to the U.S. and is asking for compensation from Acer, payment of legal fees, and triple damages for alleged intentional violation of the patents. Court documents in the Acer counterclaim were not yet available at the time of writing. Acer has said it believes its contracts with contract PC makers indemnify it from HP's claims, and has already filed aÂ lawsuit against three of its suppliers aimed at forcing them to live up to their contracts. Many laptop and desktop PC suppliers do the design and manufacturing work for customers. Acer said that since its suppliers worked on the design of the PCs in question, they should share the burden of the HP lawsuit. The supplier agreements specifically indemnify the company from lawsuits such as the two brought about by HP, Acer said. The HP lawsuits come as Acer continues to gain market share in the global PC business, and some analysts have called the disputes a response to the inroads Acer has made in the U.S. PC market. Acer's shipments to the U.S. grew 163.8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, according to preliminary figures from market researcher IDC, beating all other companies among the top six. The Taiwanese company more than doubled its market share to 5.2 percent from 2.1 percent a year ago. "Acer continued its rapid expansion in the Americas while posting strong gains in other regions as well," IDC said in a statement. New retail and dealer partner agreements are boosting Acer's drive into the U.S. market, the industry researcher said. By contrast, HP's shipments in the U.S. grew 26 percent over the same time. HP retained its title as the world's biggest PC vendor with a 19.3 percent share of the market, compared to 7.2 percent for fourth place Acer. Acer's worldwide shipments in the second quarter rose 55 percent against the same time last year, compared to 36.5 percent growth for HP.
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(InfoWorld) - LG ElectronicsÂ has filed a lawsuit against the world's largest contract manufacturer of laptop PCs over the infringement of four patents related to DVD (digital video disc) technology, the company said Wednesday. The South Korean electronics maker is seeking an injunction against Taiwan's Quanta Computer to put a stop to its use of the technology, as well as cash compensation. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin on July 3, LG said. LG alleged that Quanta has been using the infringing technology to produce laptop PCs that have been supplied to U.S. computer vendors. Quanta counts Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and a number of other PC vendors among its customers. The two companies have another outstanding lawsuit in the U.S. on which LG expects a decision in the first half of 2008. LG sued Quanta in the U.S. District Court of Northern California in 2000 over the alleged infringement of PC-related patents. Originally, the trial court decided in favor of Quanta, but the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the verdict. LG said it expects the ruling in this case to be in its favor. Quanta declined to immediately comment on the lawsuit. LG holds 5,000 international patents on DVD technologies, it said.
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3M Co.  has filed suits against  Sony Corp. (6758.T), Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK) and others,  claiming infringement of lithium-ion battery-related patents,  the diversified U.S. manufacturer said in a statement on its  Web site.
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Blog: The companies are about to face off in a federal appeals court over their ongoing patent dispute.
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A lawsuit filed this week claims that Google, Yahoo, AOL, Amazon.com, Borders and IAC/InteractiveCorp violated a patent for an automatic message routing system held by Polaris IP.
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Nokia, the world&#39;s top cell phone  maker, has filed a patent counter-suit against Qualcomm Inc in  a Texas court, seeking damages and an injunction against the  U.S. chip maker.
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By Jordan Robertson Associated Press  SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard Co.
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In the latest squabble over patents between Japanese and South Korean electronics giants, Toshiba has sued Hynix Semiconductor&#39;s Japan and US units, alleging patent infringement in flash-memory
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InfoWorld - LG Electronics&#160;has filed a lawsuit against the world&#39;s largest contract manufacturer of laptop PCs over the infringement of four patents related to DVD (digital video disc) technology, the company said Wednesday.
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The world&#39;s largest computer software manufacturer filed suit Tuesday in US District Court against a local software retailer it claims is selling and distributing counterfeit software labels.
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South Korea's Samsung Electronics  , the world's top maker of large-size liquid crystal  display panels, said on Thursday it was countersuing Japan's  Sharp Corp  for patent infringement.
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3M filed suit this week in Minneapolis, Minn. against computer makers Sony and Lenovo, along with a handful of other firms, for allegedly infringing on its patents related to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The company also asked that imports of the batteries be blocked.
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I2 Technologies accused SAP of patent infringement in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
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"This is another example where Qualcomm has effectively copied Nokia's innovations."  Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Monday it filed a patent infringement countersuit against Qualcomm in an ongoing multinational legal battle over wireless technology.Nokia, which filed the lawsuit in a Texas district court, is seeking damages and injunctive relief. The lawsuit deals with claims of unauthorized use of Nokia's Brew and MediaFlo patents, which allow fast, high-quality transfers of audio and video multimedia to wireless subscribers.In April, Qualcomm Inc., the world's No. 2 chipmaker for mobile phones which licenses its technology patents, filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Texas against Nokia, allegedly involving certain types of mobile software download and execution environments. Read more
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Second time in less than a month AMD has been accused of patent infringement for the second time in less than a month. Having found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from intellectual property holder Opti earlier this month, AMD was this week threatened by MicroUnity Systems Engineering.â¦
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Acer Inc.'s agreement to acquire Gateway Inc. has foiled Lenovo Group Ltd.'s plans to buy PC vendor Packard Bell BV, and could leave Acer owning both Gateway and Packard Bell.
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Toshiba has filed patent infringement lawsuits in Japan and the US against South Korea&#39;s Hynix Semiconductor. The suits allege that Hynix violated Toshiba&#39;s patents covering NAND-type flash memory chips.