RICHMOND, Va.—Patent-holding company NTP Inc. said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Treo maker Palm Inc. that claims the company’s mobile e-mail products infringe on NTP’s patents.
NTP filed the claim in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. NTP is asking for an injunction and monetary damages.
Palm said it would “defend itself vigorously” against the suit, and called NTP’s patents “dubious.” Palm noted that NTP’s patents are currently under review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
“Palm has been in occasional contact with NTP concerning a license to these patents,” the company said in a statement. “When Palm last communicated with NTP many months ago, however, each of the patents already was the subject of re-examination proceedings by the PTO. Palm is disappointed that, after many months of silence and repeated rejections of NTP’s claims by the PTO, NTP has chosen to sue on patents of doubtful validity.”
NTP successfully took on Research In Motion Ltd. with similar patent infringement claims. RIM agreed earlier this year to pay NTP $450 million to settle the case after the company faced an injunction that would have shut off its service to U.S. BlackBerry subscribers.
