Wi-LAN swipes at Sony in patent infringement suit
Canadian patent licensing firm Wi-LAN has taken a swipe at Sony with the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit in China.
A subsidiary of Wi-LAN brought the suit against Sony Mobile Communications in a court in Nanjing, according to the Financial Times.
On November 3, Jim Skippen, CEO of Wi-LAN, confirmed on an investors call that the company had launched its first Chinese litigation on “networking patents” against Sony.
“We continue to look at other geographies to commence litigations outside the US, such as in Canada, where we have several ongoing litigations today, as well as China and Germany,” he said.
If Wi-Lan is successful and secures an injunction, it would prevent Sony from selling LTE-standard smartphones in China or exporting from China, according to the Financial Times.
Earlier this year, WIPR reported that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed an earlier ruling that Apple did not infringe one of Wi-LAN’s patents covering wireless communication.
Wi-LAN had been seeking $248 million in damages over the alleged infringement of patent number RE37,802.
A spokesperson for Sony said that the company does not comment on ongoing litigation matters.
