ZTE files applications to USPTO to re-examine five Vringo patents

ZTE has applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine five patents of Vringo and its subsidiaries.

The five Vringo patents subject to the applications for re-examination are numbered US 7,558,283, US 6,081,534, US 7,126,940, US 5,689,252 and US 7,724,720, respectively, related to telecommunications equipment. Equivalent versions of the five US patents have been used by Vringo in litigations with ZTE in the UK, Germany and India.

The Patent Re-examination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China has invalidated five of Vringo's patents on grounds of lack of invention. In January, the District Court of Dusseldorf rejected Vringo's claims against ZTE over two patents (Patents 'EP 136' and 'EP 941') that allegedly relate to hotspot functionality in mobile devices and the use of Google Maps respectively. Vringo Germany has the right to appeal the decisions of the District Court of Dusseldorf.

ZTE is committed to defending the company against actions brought by Vringo in Europe, Asia and South America. As a globally-leading technology innovator, ZTE respects the intellectual property of other companies and is willing to negotiate royalty fees with license holders based on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice said it will not challenge a proposal by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to update IEEE Standards Association's (IEEE-SA) patent policy, including provisions requiring holders of standard-essential patents to license them on reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms.