LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.—The old adage has it that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. The opposite is true of mobile-device cloning: Few vendors wish to discuss it, but they’ll do something about it in markets where they can.
Motorola Inc. announced that it had reached an agreement with South Korean vendor KBT Mobile Company Ltd. over a lawsuit the American vendor filed in January on patent infringement over the South Korean vendor’s manufacture and sales of Razr look-alikes in Asia.
KBT Mobile agreed in a settlement to stop making, selling, marketing or exporting any Razr-like phones, and to desist from enabling other companies to do the same. Other aspects of the settlement remain confidential.
Motorola launched the suit after it investigated reports of the Razr-like phones—branded by KBT Mobile as its V500—being marketed in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The American vendor had filed its lawsuit in South Korea against KBT Mobile under that country’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act, which prohibits the copying of another company’s product design. Motorola’s complaint alleged infringements of its patents, trademarks and designs.
“Around the world, we are committed to protecting our investments,” said Yvonne Verse, Motorola’s vice president of global intellectual property management and licensing for mobile devices. “And we are prepared to vigorously defend our innovations through enforcement of our intellectual property rights.”
