Electronics wireless giants face Bluetooth patent suit

Stan Beer
Thursday, 04 January 2007 02:41

Business IT - Technology

Three global electronics giants in wireless communications, Nokia, Samsung and Matsushita have been hit with a patent lawsuit over their use of Bluetooth chips in products they sell. A not-for-profit group which commercializes technology developed at universities, alleges the chips infringe patents under its control.

The Bluetooth chips at the center of the patent suit are made by UK-based manufacturer CSR, which is the market leader in the production of Bluetooth chipsets. The suit has been lodged by Washington Research Foundation based in Seattle, which claims that CSR, unlike rival Bluetooth chip maker Broadcom, has not licensed underlying technology developed at the University of Washington covered by patents.

Washington Research Foundation alleges that the defendants violate four of its patents by using CSR chipsets in their mobile phones and headset products.

While Washington Research Foundation has not named CSR as a defendant in the patent suit, the effect of the legal action, if successful, could bite deeply into its sales. The suit seeks to force Nokia, Samsung and Matsushita to either pay license fees and royalties to the foundation or buy Bluetooth chipsets from US-based Broadcom, which licensed the technology in 1999.

CSR has issued a statement describing the suit as without merit and that the company intends to defend its products from the action vigorously.

Bluetooth, a wireless protocol for connecting devices within a limited range such as an office, was originally developed in Sweden in 1994 by Ericsson engineers Sven Mattison and Jaap Haartsen. Ericsson eventually made the technology open source and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group was established in 1998, of which a foundation member was Nokia, one of the defendants in this suit.