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13 June 2014Patents

Spherix sues Verizon for patent infringement

IP development company Spherix Incorporated has begun patent litigation against Verizon, alleging that the telecoms company infringed four of its patents.

In a statement released yesterday, June 12, Spherix said the patents asserted in the litigation were developed by the now defunct telecoms company Nortel Networks and acquired by Spherix in December 2013. They are related to various internet services provided by Verizon.

The complaint seeks recovery of damages for a portion of the “substantial revenue” associated with the infringed patents.

"We consider today's lawsuit yet another huge step towards monetising our portfolio of IP. This litigation is an entirely new line of potential licensing revenue for Spherix, as it focuses on infringement related to the providing of internet services,” said Anthony Hayes, chief executive of Spherix.

In March, Spherix filed a lawsuit against technology company Cisco Systems asserting a series of patents in a portfolio it acquired in 2013. In the lawsuit, it claimed Cisco had committed “immense infringement” through its products, which include switches and routers.

Last year, it announced it had secured a suite of patents from a portfolio owned by non-practising entity Rockstar Consortium, which is owned jointly by Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Ericsson and Sony. Rockstar was established in 2011, when the company bought the same portfolio from Nortel Networks for an undisclosed fee.

The latest case has been filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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