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22 February 2017Patents

AT&T and Broadcom targeted in patent claims

Technology companies AT&T and Broadcom have been targeted in patent lawsuits brought by a Texas-based business called Plectrum.

Filed on Monday, February 20 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, Plectrum’s suit accused the companies of selling network switches and routers that infringe three of its patents.

The patents concerned are US numbers 5,978,951; 6,205,149; and 6,751,677.

According to the claim, the ‘951 and ‘149 patents were developed by engineers at 3Com, a creator of computer network infrastructure.

The ‘951 patent is called “High speed cache management unit for use in a bridge/router”, while the ‘149 patent is named “Quality of service control mechanism and apparatus”.

In 2010, 3Com was acquired by HP, the developer of the ‘677 patent.

That patent is called “Method and apparatus for allowing a secure and transparent communication between a user device and servers of a data access network system via a firewall and a gateway”.

AT&T is alleged to have infringed the patents through the sale of its Juniper Networks MX series routers and Broadcom through its BCM56850 series switches.

Both companies have also allegedly indirectly infringed the patents by making contracts with customers to provide network services and equipment.

Plectrum is seeking a jury trial, a permanent injunction, damages and attorneys’ fees.

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