Post a CommentFujitsu files patent infringement lawsuit against Tellabs
The Japan-based telecommunications company is alleging that certain Tellabs products infringe four of optical communications patents held by Fujitsu.
By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 1/30/2008
Communications technology developer Fujitsu Ltd and Fujitsu Network Communications Inc Tuesday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tellabs Inc and Tellabs Operations Inc in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, for alleged infringement of four of Fujitsu’s US patents covering optical communication technologies.
Fujitsu seeks monetary damages and an injunction against Tellabs’ future infringement of Fujitsu’s patents.
Fujitsu believes the infringing products include the Tellabs 7100 Optical Transport System, Tellabs 5500 series and Tellabs 6300 series.
This lawsuit follows numerous unsuccessful attempts to amicably resolve the alleged infringement activities, according to Fujitsu. Since a cooperative resolution could not be reached, the company determined that litigation was necessary in order to protect Fujitsu’s rights and the value of its intellectual property.
Masanobu Katoh, corporate VP and president of the law and intellectual property unit of Fujitsu noted in a statement, “Fujitsu has been investing heavily for years in research and development and owns approximately 10,000 patents in the field of optical communications around the world. In this field, Fujitsu is a leader and has patents that are important to optical communication technologies such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM). We consider our intellectual property to be valuable company assets and are committed to protecting and enforcing them.”
George Stenitzer, spokesperson for Tellabs told EDN that Tellabs received notice of the suit on Monday and is currently reviewing it.
He also noted that over the past year, the two companies engaged in discussions regarding the patents. "Based on our extensive analysis, we believe Tellabs is in the clear and we communicated that to Fujitsu last year," he said. "Our plan is to defend Tellabs vigourously," Stenitzer concluded.
