NEW YORK - June 18, 2014 - Vringo,
Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation,
development and monetization of intellectual property and mobile
technologies, today announced that the Court of Justice of Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil has upheld the ex-parte preliminary injunction
granted against ZTE Corporation and ZTE do Brasil (collectively,
"ZTE"), having rejected ZTE's interlocutory appeal of the
injunction.
Vringo Infrastructure, Inc.,
Vringo's wholly-owned subsidiary, filed suit against ZTE on April
14, 2014 in the 5th Trial Court
of Rio de Janeiro State Court, alleging infringement of Brazilian
patent PI0013975-0, which is related to 3G/4G/LTE infrastructure.
On April 15, 2014, the Court granted an ex-parte preliminary
injunction against ZTE, restraining ZTE from manufacturing, using,
offering for sale, selling, installing, testing, or importing such
infrastructure equipment. Vringo posted a bond of approximately
$900,000 with the Court in order to enforce the injunction on April
17, 2014. ZTE filed an interlocutory appeal against the injunction
on May 9, 2014. On May 26, 2014, the Court denied ZTE's request for
a stay of the injunction pending the interlocutory appeal hearing,
which took place on June 11, 2014. Judgment was rendered at the
conclusion of the hearing, and formally published thereafter.
Following the ruling, the
injunction is likely to remain in place until a decision on the
merits has been reached. A trial schedule has not yet been set; the
average length of time in Brazil from the filing of a claim on the
merits until final judgment is two to four years.
Background
On October 5, 2012, Vringo
Infrastructure, filed a suit in the UK High Court of Justice,
Chancery Division, Patents Court, alleging infringement of certain
European patents. Subsequently, ZTE responded to the complaint on
December 19, 2012 with a counterclaim for invalidity of the patents
in suit. Vringo Infrastructure filed a further UK suit on December
3, 2012, alleging infringement of additional European patents. The
first UK suit is scheduled for trial in October 2014 and the second
UK suit is scheduled for trial in June 2015.
On November 15, 2012, Vringo
Germany filed a suit in the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany,
alleging infringement of a European patent. The litigation was
expanded to include a second European patent on February 21, 2013.
On November 4, 2013, Vringo filed a further brief with respect to
the proceedings of the first European patent suit, asserting
infringement by ZTE eNode B infrastructure equipment used in 4G
networks.
On December 17, 2013, the Court
issued its judgment, finding that ZTE infringed on the second
European patent and ordered an accounting and an injunction upon
payment of the appropriate bonds. On February 19, 2014, Vringo
Germany filed suit in the Mannheim Regional Court seeking
enforcement of the accounting ordered and a further order that
non-compliance be subject to civil and criminal penalties. Trial in
this suit is scheduled for September 2014.
On December 27, 2013, ZTE filed a
notice of appeal of the Mannheim Regional Court's judgment, and on
January 24, 2014, ZTE filed an emergency motion with the Court of
Appeals seeking a stay of the judge's order pending appeal. On
February 24, 2014, ZTE's motion was denied.
On September 13, 2013 and January
28, 2014, Vringo Germany filed two suits in the Regional Court of
Düsseldorf, alleging infringement of two additional European
patents. Both cases are scheduled to be heard in November 2014.
On April 2, 2013, Vringo
Infrastructure filed a patent infringement lawsuit in France in the
Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, alleging infringement of the
French part of two European patents. Vringo Infrastructure filed
the lawsuit based on particular information uncovered during a
seizure to obtain evidence of infringement, known as a
saisie-contrefaçon, which was executed at two of ZTE's facilities
in France. The oral hearing in relation to these patents is
scheduled for December 2014 before the 3rd division of
the 3rd chamber of
the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris (specializing in
intellectual property matters).
On June 11, 2013, Vringo
Infrastructure filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Federal
Court of Australia in the New South Wales registry, alleging
infringement by ZTE of two Australian patents. Vringo
currently anticipates that the Court will set a trial date in the
second half of 2014.
On September 6, 2013, Vringo
Infrastructure filed a preliminary inquiry order against ZTE in the
Commercial Court of Madrid, Spain, requiring ZTE to provide
discovery relating to alleged infringement of a patent which is the
Spanish counter-part of the second European patent filed in
Germany. In light of ZTE's non-responsiveness to the order,
on March 24, 2014, the Court granted Vringo's request to seek
discovery of certain of ZTE's Spanish customers.
On November 7, 2013, Vringo filed
a patent infringement lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi at New
Delhi, India, alleging infringement of an Indian patent related to
CDMA. On November 8, 2013, the Court granted an ex-parte
preliminary injunction and appointed commissioners to inspect ZTE's
facilities and collect evidence. ZTE appealed the preliminary
injunction and, on December 12, 2013, the appellate panel
instituted an interim arrangement, requiring ZTE to file an
accounting affidavit disclosing the number of CDMA devices sold by
its entities in India, revenue derived therefrom, and other
supporting documentation. The Court also required ZTE to pay a bond
of 50 million rupees (approximately $800,000), directed Indian
customs authorities to notify Vringo when all relevant ZTE goods
are imported into India, and required ZTE to give Vringo the
opportunity to inspect those goods. ZTE filed its accounting
affidavit on January 13, 2014.
On February 3, 2014, Vringo filed
a motion for contempt for ZTE's failure to comply with the Court's
order, and requested that the Court order ZTE to pay an increased
bond. Hearing on this motion is scheduled for July 8, 2014.
On January 31, 2014, Vringo filed
a patent infringement lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi at New
Delhi, alleging infringement of a second Indian patent related to
GSM Infrastructure. The Court, finding a prima
facie case of infringement, granted an ex-parte preliminary
injunction, restraining ZTE and its officers, directors, agents,
distributors and customers from importing, selling, offering for
sale, advertising, installing, or operating any infringing
products, and giving Vringo the right to inspect any infringing
goods arriving in India, which are to be detained by customs
authorities. The judge granted the injunction after ruling that
Vringo would suffer an irreparable loss if such an injunction were
not put into place. ZTE subsequently appealed the injunction, which
remains in place pending a ruling by the Court, which is expected
on July 8, 2014.
On May 28, 2014, Vringo filed a
patent infringement lawsuit in the District Court of The Hague in
the Netherlands, alleging infringement of a European patent.
About
Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the
development and monetization of intellectual property worldwide.
The Company's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600
patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure,
internet search and mobile technologies. The Company's patents and
patent applications have been developed internally and acquired
from third parties. For more information, visit:
www.vringo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes
forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such
as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects,"
"intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative
of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking
statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are
not limited to: our inability to license and monetize our patents,
including the outcome of the litigation against online search firms
and other companies; our inability to monetize and recoup our
investment with respect to patent assets that we acquire; our
inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new
intellectual property; new legislation, regulations or court
rulings related to enforcing patents, that could harm our business
and operating results; unexpected trends in the mobile phone and
telecom infrastructure industries; our inability to raise
additional capital to fund our combined operations and business
plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a
major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance
of our products; potential competition from other providers and
products; our inability to retain key members of our management
team; the future success of Infomedia and our ability to receive
value from its stock; and other risks and uncertainties and other
factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual
report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 10, 2014.
Vringo expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law.
Contacts
Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein@vringoinc.com
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Vringo, Inc. via Globenewswire
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