Soon to release its modular G5 flagship smartphone, LG found itself facing some bad news when it was court-ordered to pay $3.5 million to Core Wireless Licensing, a subsidiary of Conversant Intellectual Property Management.
Core Wireless, which holds patents for 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE network technologies, alleged that LG infringed on its patents that relate to a smartphone’s user interface. The jury not only found the patents to be valid, but sided with Core Wireless, awarding the company $3.5 million in past damages. In addition, Core Wireless will ask United States District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap to award the company 10 cents for each future sale of the infringing LG products, the majority of which are smartphones.
The smartphones in question reportedly include those that run the more recent versions of Android, including Jelly Bean, KitKat, and Lollipop. As such, they include the G2, G3, and G4; LG’s flagship smartphones for 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, with the G4 explicitly called out in the lawsuit.
Unsurprisingly, Conversant CEO John Lindgren expressed his content with the verdict, thanking “the court and the jury for their efforts in ensuring that LG compensates Core Wireless for the value of the inventions they are using.”
This isn’t Core Wireless’ first rodeo in the court system when it comes to patents, however. Back in 2012, the company tried to sue Apple for $100 million due to alleged patent infringement. Last March, however, a Texas federal court ruled in favor of Apple, saying that there was no evidence that Apple infringed on any of Core Wireless’ patents.
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Regardless, Core Wireless’ victory juxtaposes nicely with Uniloc’s March 25 loss in court. Uniloc, a company that specializes in “try before you buy” software, consistently sued companies over alleged infringement of a vague patent filed in 1996. The U.S. Patent Office recently invalidated the patent, though Uniloc has the option to appeal the decision.
As for this case, we’re not sure if LG will appeal the decision and have reached out to the company for comment.
