VRINGO ISSUES UPDATE ON RECENT EVENTS IN ITS LITIGATIONS AGAINST ZTE
February 02 2015 - 8:30AM
NEW YORK - February 2, 2015 -
Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation,
development and monetization of intellectual property, today issued
an update on recent events in its litigations against ZTE.
On Friday, January 30th, the UK
High Court rejected ZTE's attempt to introduce new prior art and
re-argue the validity of the UK part of Vringo's European Patent
1,212,919 ("the '919 Patent") - a patent that the UK High Court
previously found to be valid and infringed. The UK High
Court ordered ZTE to pay Vringo's costs in relation to this ruling
and denied ZTE's application for permission to appeal. The UK
High Court will now turn to the issue of remedies for ZTE's
infringement of the '919 Patent. Over the coming
months, the parties will also brief infringement and validity of
four additional patents that have been asserted against ZTE in the
UK.
In Romania, the Appeals Court
recently upheld a preliminary injunction prohibiting ZTE from
selling and importing 4G LTE handsets and equipment. The Appeals
Court, following standard Romanian legal practice, required that
Vringo post a €240 thousand bond to allow maintenance of the
injunction. Vringo intends to post this bond to continue to enforce
the injunction. With the injunction now in place, ZTE is legally
prohibited from delivering 4G LTE handsets and equipment to
retailers and carriers. ZTE previously stated that this
injunction would result in a penalty of over €30 million as it
relates to satisfying its contractual obligations.
Last week, ZTE filed a request
that the Appeals Court reopen arguments on the preliminary
injunction appeal to allow ZTE to argue that the amount of the bond
should be increased to €40 million since that would be a more
accurate reflection of the damages ZTE claims to be currently
suffering. "Vringo understands that not only is ZTE's request for a
rehearing in Romania not allowed by the relevant statutes, but
ZTE's method of calculation of the bond is improper and contrary to
law," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual
Property Officer.
In addition to Romania, through
Vringo's enforcement efforts, ZTE is also currently prohibited from
selling certain products in Germany and Brazil.
In Germany, Vringo obtained a
permanent injunction against ZTE, prohibiting ZTE from selling or
importing 3G UMTS SDR Base Stations.
In Brazil, Vringo obtained an
interim injunction (upheld after numerous appeals), prohibiting ZTE
from selling and importing certain 3G UMTS or 4G LTE infrastructure
equipment.
Vringo has further secured
preliminary relief in Holland and India and looks forward to
additional court and administrative proceedings in the coming
months in Germany and France. "Despite the clear indication
that ZTE has no respect for intellectual property rights, Vringo
continues to offer a license to ZTE on FRAND terms. Vringo
will continue to enforce its rights through courts world-wide in
response to ZTE's unwillingness to license Vringo's patents," said
Cohen.
"We are disappointed with
ZTE's tactics," Cohen continued. "Despite Vringo's continued
efforts to offer a license to its standard-essential patent
portfolio on FRAND terms, ZTE continues to refuse to engage in good
faith negotiations and struggles to find ways to delay reaching a
resolution with Vringo. ZTE has even sought to press release
every minor ruling in its favor including a small fee award
(approx. $2,000) to be paid to ZTE in Malaysia."
The following list contains
further information on the foregoing recent developments as well as
additional actions.
-
In the United Kingdom, on January 30,
2015, ZTE's post-judgment application to re-open proceedings and
introduce new prior art -following the Court's earlier finding that
ZTE infringes the UK part of the '919 Patent, and confirming the
validity of the patent-in-suit-was rejected by the Court, following
careful consideration of all arguments made by ZTE. The Court
ordered ZTE to pay Vringo's costs in relation to this post-judgment
application, and denied ZTE's application for permission to
appeal.
-
In Romania, on January 8, 2015, the
Court rejected ZTE's appeal of the interim injunction granted on
July 1, 2015, prohibiting ZTE and its distributors from importing,
exporting, introducing on the market, offering for sale, storing,
selling, distributing, promoting, and/or conducting any other
trading activity with respect to any 4G/LTE mobile phone produced
by ZTE and any infrastructure equipment produced by ZTE which
incorporates 4G/LTE technology. Concurrent with its rejection of
ZTE's appeal, the Court immediately reinstated the injunction. As
part of its enforcement of the injunction, Vringo has provided
notice to vendors of ZTE handsets and infrastructure equipment in
Romania, informing the vendors that the Court has ordered them to
cease all sales of ZTE 4G/LTE products in Romania. ZTE has
previously stated that this injunction would result in losses of
over €30 million to ZTE as a result of breaching its contracts with
telecom providers Cosmote Romania and Deutsche Telekom AG. As a
result of the Court's reinstatement of the injunction, ZTE is
legally forbidden from delivering equipment found by the Court to
prima facie infringe the patent-in-suit to
these providers. Vringo has provided notice of the injunction to
both Cosmote Romania and Deutsche Telekom AG. Last week,
however, ZTE filed a request that the Appeals Court reopen
arguments on the preliminary injunction appeal to allow ZTE to
argue that the amount of the bond should be increased to €40
million since that would be a more accurate reflection of the
damages ZTE claims to be currently suffering.
-
In Brazil, the injunction granted by
the Court on April 15, 2014 against ZTE remains in force, having
been unsuccessfully challenged by ZTE in six separate proceedings
before both trial and appellate courts. As part of Vringo's
enforcement of the injunction, a Brazilian court marshal and
court-appointed experts have seized ZTE equipment found by the
Court to, prima facie, infringe Vringo's
Brazilian Patent 0,013,975, the equivalent of the '919 Patent, and
Brazilian customs were ordered by court to detain any such
equipment that ZTE attempts to import into Brazil.
-
In Germany, on January 22, 2015, the
Court found that ZTE does not infringe the German parts of two of
Vringo's European Patents. In the wake of that judgment, Vringo
will explore all possible remedies including appeal. The Court did
not rule on the validity of those patents, since, pursuant to
German law, the question of validity of patents is dealt with in
separate proceedings and before different courts. "While
disappointing, these patents are unrelated to Vringo's worldwide
campaign to seek a license from ZTE on Vringo's standard-essential
telecom portfolio on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory
terms," said David Cohen.
-
In China, ZTE has filed petitions
before the Patent Re-Examination Board of the State Intellectual
Property Office of the People's Republic of China for the
re-examination of 33 of Vringo's Chinese Patents. To date, eight
patents have been held valid, and five have been held invalid.
Vringo retains the right to appeal all determinations of
invalidity. None of Vringo's Chinese Patents are currently being
asserted against ZTE.
-
In the United States, the July 7, 2014
temporary restraining order against ZTE related to ZTE's breach of
the parties' NDA remains in effect pending a ruling on Vringo's
motion for a preliminary injunction.
About Vringo,
Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the
innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property
and mobile technologies. Vringo's intellectual property
portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications
covering telecom infrastructure, internet search, and mobile
technologies. The 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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