Ericsson strengthens its IS-95 patents for February 1999 trial

Ericsson strengthens its IS-95 patents for February 1999 trial Ericsson has received word that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has validated a total of 36 new and amended claims in one of Ericsson's key patents on 'soft handoff', an Ericsson invention that is essential to the practice of U.S. wireless telecommunications standard IS-95. Over the past three months the U.S. Patent Office has allowed three such Ericsson patents. The successful reissue of these three patents confirms that Ericsson is the true inventor of the 'soft handoff' and 'macrodiversity' concepts that are fundamental to IS-95. In an October 20 press release, Qualcomm Inc. misleadingly alleged only that Ericsson had agreed to "surrender" its soft handoff patents. Qualcomm failed to disclose that this is part of the process of exchanging its current patents for amended and strengthened reissued patents, which cover the same inventions as the original patents. "It is disappointing that Qualcomm continuously attempts to mislead the industry by implying that Ericsson's patents have somehow been diminished when, in fact, the opposite is true," says Larry Lyles, Vice President and General Counsel of Ericsson Inc. "Qualcomm is making a deliberate attempt to try its case outside of the courthouse, regardless of the current legal process. This way of trying to influence the legal process is neither an industry nor an Ericsson practice," Mr. Lyles continues. Ericsson has renewed three patents through a re-issue procedure. Although Ericsson will obtain patents with new numbers, the three reissued patents will still carry the same 1988 priority dates as the existing patents. Because Patent Office rules require that Ericsson exchange the existing patent prior to obtaining the re-issued patent, Ericsson has notified the Patent Office of its intent to exchange its existing patents in order to formally obtain the re-printed patents, which will contain all of the new and amended claims. "The fact that the Patent Office confirmed that Ericsson's patents were valid over all of Qualcomm's alleged prior art validates Ericsson's confidence in the strength of its CDMA patent portfolio," says Mr. Lyles. Qualcomm has yet to produce any legitimate challenge to the validity of the Ericsson soft handoff patents. In papers recently filed in the Texas proceedings, Qualcomm was forced to admit that, after over two years of litigation, it has yet to uncover sufficient evidence to even raise a defense that it invented soft handoff prior to Ericsson. In an effort to streamline the number and scope of patents that will be tried, Ericsson chose to voluntarily dismiss three of the eleven patents asserted against Qualcomm in the Texas suit. The voluntary removal from the lawsuit of three patents should not be interpreted as a reflection on the merits of these patents. Ericsson is seeking damages and other relief from Qualcomm due to Qualcomm's willful infringement of Ericsson's essential IS-95 patents. "Ericsson welcomes the opportunity to prove its claims of infringement at the upcoming February trial and continues to anticipate a favourable result," Mr. Lyles continues. Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with the freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Per Bengtsson, Vice President, Investor Relations Ericsson Inc. Phone: +1 212 685 4030, E-mail: per.bengtsson@eus.ericsson.com Eric Österberg, Director of Communication Ericsson Business Area Mobile Systems Phone: +46 8 757 2159, E-mail: eric.osterberg@era.ericsson.se