CSIRO wins landmark wi-fi settlement.

[Mario]

CSIRO wins landmark wi-fi settlement

The CSIRO has won what could be a landmark settlement from Hewlett Packard over the use of patented wireless technology.

The settlement ended HP's involvement in a four-year lawsuit brought by the CSIRO on a group of technology companies, in which the organisation was seeking royalties for wi-fi technology that is used extensively on laptops and computers worldwide.

CSIRO spokesman Huw Morgan declined to elaborate on the details of the settlement, saying: "CSIRO has reached a settlement with HP in relation to wireless technology."

Since the Australian science agency received a patent for its IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g Wi-Fi products in January 1996, the technology has been adopted as an industry standard by most notebooks and desktop computers around the world.

CSIRO started legal action against a group of technology companies in 2005, arguing that its patent was being infringed upon and it should "receive royalties from every producer of WLAN products worldwide."

If CSIRO is successful in being granted royalty rights for the technology, billions of dollars could be headed its way because of the widespread use of the wireless standard.

In 2007 CSIRO had some success when a Texas District Court imposed a permanent injunction on Buffalo Technologies importing, manufacturing, selling or using the wireless technology.

The decision was appealed last year and the injunction has been lifted while the patent issue is clarified.

Mr Morgan said legal action was continuing against 13 companies: Intel, Dell, Toshiba, Asus, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin, SMC, Accton, 3-Com, Buffalo, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Source.

[Casper]

oh wow, this is awesome news... hope they win every case they have going. go csiro, go.

[Mario]

It's over. CSIRO is victorious.

AUSTRALIA'S top science agency has walloped some of the world's biggest industrial giants in the US patent courts to bring the country a pay check worth up to $1 billion over the next five to 10 years.

The CSIRO has won its long-running battle to enforce a patent on technology used in Wi-fi connections that have become virtually ubiquitous in laptops and other devices around the world.

Hewlett-Packard was the first of 13 companies to back down early this month when it opted to settle the patent dispute rather than take it before a jury trial in the US federal court.

Alex Zelinsky, director of the science agency's ICT Centre, today confirmed that all of its opponents had chosen to settle the case rather than go ahead with another trial.

CSIRO deputy chief of operations Mike Whelan said that the terms of the settlement would remain strictly confidential. Dr Zelinsky speculated, however, that the pay off could be worth upwards from $100 million up to a billion dollars and keep royalty payment flowing into the agency for up to a decade.

"You could imagine what this would mean for CSIRO. If we get into a barney over another piece of intellectual property (our opponents) are going to be thinking 'should we settle with these guys or stare them down',” Dr Zelinsky.

Also, having won the settlement the CSIRO may now be able to level their sights on other companies that were not enjoined in the court case.

The CSIRO's case dates back to 2005 when it sued wireless component provider Buffalo for intellectual property breaches. A further 12 companies including Dell, Intel, Microsoft, Nintendo, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Netgear, Buffalo, D-Link, Belkin, SMC, Accton, and 3Com joined the case after CSIRO lawyers won an injunction preventing it from selling its products.

The group of heavyweights joined in an attempt to squash the agency's patent claims.

The dispute then took a complicated route through various circuits of US appeals courts before arriving at a US federal court and before a jury.

However, this week all 13 companies settled the case. The details of the settlement are confidential but it's understood that each firm has settled their matters separately.

Source.