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23 November 2018Patents

Motorola Solutions obtains German injunctions against Hytera

Motorola Solutions, a telecoms equipment provider, has secured injunctions against Chinese rival Hytera Communications in a patent infringement dispute.

According to a Motorola announcement on Tuesday, November 20, the Regional Court of Düsseldorf found that Hytera’s two-way digital mobile radio (DMR) subscriber radios infringe European patent (EP) 2,342,851B1.

Motorola said Hytera’s products use the so-called pseudo-trunking functionality in time-division multiple access (TDMA) direct mode. TDMA allows several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different time slots, while pseudo-trunking centres on network expansion.

The Regional Court granted one injunction to prevent Hytera from offering the patented method in Germany, while the second order stops the Chinese company from offering and delivering products capable of performing the patented method in the country.

Additionally, the court held Hytera liable for damages, said the release, adding that: “While the current judgments may be appealed by Hytera, they are immediately enforceable upon posting of a required security by Motorola Solutions, which is expected to be completed in short order.”

The ruling applies to both Hytera and its German subsidiary, going a step further than a previous judgment in a related case. In July, the Regional Court of Mannheim granted an injunction only against the subsidiary after finding that it had infringed EP 1,139,562, which covers technology that improves the audio performance in two-way handheld radios and car radios.

Mark Hacker, general counsel and chief administrative officer of Motorola, said that, “significantly”, the latest ruling covers additional Hytera DMR subscribers “beyond those that were previously found to infringe our patented squelch technology in an earlier judgment”.

The decision is just the latest development in what has become a global IP dispute between Motorola and Hytera. On November 16, the US International Trade Commission issued a notice of final determination that some of the Chinese company’s products infringe Motorola patents, but that Hytera’s new-generation i-Series devices do not infringe the patents and can continue to be imported and sold in the US.

Motorola confirmed that its patent infringement, copyright infringement and trade secret theft lawsuits against Hytera are still pending in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Federal Court of Australia.

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More on this story

Patents
19 November 2018   The US International Trade Commission issued a notice of final determination in a patent dispute between telecoms equipment company Motorola Solutions and rival Hytera late last week.
Patents
13 May 2019   The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board has issued two decisions in an ongoing dispute between Motorola and radio systems manufacturer Hytera.
Copyright
7 May 2020   Australia’s Federal Court has postponed a patent and copyright infringement trial between Motorola and Hytera due to logistical difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.