KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-Just a few months after it acquired the company, InterDigital Communications Corp.’s subsidiary Tantivy Communications Inc. said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lucent Technologies Inc. InterDigital said the suit covers seven patents, and that the company is seeking damages for past infringement and an injunction against future infringement as well as interest, costs and attorney’s fees.
InterDigital was not immediately available to give details on the patents or the suit. A Lucent spokesman said the company had no comment on the suit.
InterDigital, which sells wireless hardware and infrastructure technology, acquired Tantivy in August for about $11.5 million. InterDigital said it scored access to Tantivy’s patents, patent applications, know-how, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and other technologies related to CDMA2000, smart antennas, wireless local area networks and other wireless technologies.
InterDigital is no stranger to the courtroom. The company went toe-to-toe with L.M. Ericsson and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, and last year won the match. Under the deal, Ericsson must pay InterDigital an annual fee of $6 million for sales of infrastructure equipment, and Sony Ericsson will pay a royalty on each licensed product sold. InterDigital is also embroiled in a similar disagreement with Nokia Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
