Set up in 2006 to manage Alcatel-Lucent’s (News
- Alert) trove of over 29,000 patents, the Multimedia Patent Trust (MPT) arm of the company has been busy flexing its muscles for several years. And, while most infringement actions tend to be settled for “undisclosed terms” before going to trial, such is not true of an action filed by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) against Apple and LG Electronics (News - Alert), Multimedia Patent Trust v. Apple, 3:10-cv-02618, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, which goes to trial in San Diego today.
At issue is ALU’s contention that the two companies infringed patents for electronic devices including phones and computers. In essence, they are accused of copying video-compression technology that allows data to be sent more efficiently over communications media, including the Internet and satellites, or stored on DVDs and Blu-Ray disks.
As widely reported, the trust claims its patents are infringed by products including multiple versions of Apple’s iPhone, iPod, iPad and MacBook, as well as LG Electronics’s Chocolate Touch VX8575, Bliss UX700, Touch AX8575, Lotus Elite LX610, Mystique UN610 and Samba LG8575... Read More