Vringo Inc. (VRNG) said a Germany court found that Chinese
telecommunications company ZTE Corp. (000063.SZ, 0763.HK, ZTCOY)
infringed one of its European patents and is required to pay
damages.
The total amount of damages is still being determined. ZTE was
also ordered to cease and desist distribution of base stations that
were found to infringe Vringo's patent. A ZTE representative wasn't
immediately available for comment.
Shares of Vringo, a small mobile technology and
intellectual-patent firm, jumped 5.5% premarket to $3.25. As of
Monday's close, the stock was up 7.3% so far this year.
The court ruling is subject to appeal. Also, the validity of the
patent involved is being considered in a separate proceeding, as
ZTE filed an action in a federal patent court in Germany trying to
nullify the patent.
Vringo filed patent infringement cases against ZTE in five
countries and has a preliminary inquiry in Spain. The patents
involved relate to wireless infrastructure and handsets. The suits
were filed in India, the U.K., Germany, France and Australia.
Last year, Vringo was awarded about $30 million in damages and
granted future royalties by a federal jury in its patent suit
against a handful of technology giants, including Google Inc.
(GOOG) and AOL Inc. (AOL). Vringo had sued the search companies for
allegedly infringing two of its patents related to advertising
placement in search results.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@wsj.com
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