ZTE's Repeated
Attempts to Overturn Preliminary Injunction and Invalidate Vringo's
Patents Fail
NEW YORK - November 12, 2015-
Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation,
development and monetization of intellectual property as well as
the commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and
rugged computing devices, today announced that it has received
favorable rulings in litigation against ZTE in Romania and
China.
In Romania, on November 11, 2015,
the Bucharest First District Court rejected ZTE Romania's challenge
to the enforcement of the preliminary injunction that has been in
place against ZTE Romania since June 30, 2014. ZTE Romania
has previously lost all rights to appeal the preliminary injunction
itself. This marks the thirteenth time that a Romanian court
has stricken down a challenge by ZTE Romania to the preliminary
injunction or to the enforcement thereof.
In China, the Patent
Re-Examination Board ("PRB") of the State Intellectual Property
Office of the People's Republic of China has upheld the validity of
two of Vringo's Chinese patents, each for the second time.
On May 30, 2014, ZTE filed a first
petition for the re-examination of Vringo's Chinese Patent
ZL97192088.5, which pertains to SMS technology. On December 31,
2014, following an oral hearing, the PRB upheld the validity of all
claims of the patent. On May 11, 2015, ZTE filed a second
petition for the re-examination of the same patent. On
November 6, 2015, the PRB-once again-maintained the validity of the
patent.
On May 30, 2014, ZTE also filed a
first petition for the re-examination of Vringo's Chinese Patent
ZL96190165.9, which has been declared to the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute as a standard-essential
patent. On February 9, 2015, following an oral hearing, the PRB
upheld the validity of all claims of the patent. On July 2, 2015,
ZTE filed a second petition for the re-examination of the same
patent. On November 10, 2015, the PRB-once again-maintained the
validity of the patent.
ZTE has sought to invalidate
almost all of Vringo's Chinese patents, filing petitions for the
re-examination of 33 of Vringo's Chinese patents. The PRB has
upheld the validity of 17 of those patents in full, and of 2 in
part. This is not ZTE's first attempt to invalidate one of Vringo's
Chinese patents more than once. ZTE has filed second petitions for
the re-examination of 9 of Vringo's Chinese patents. Of the 6
of those petitions which have reached a dispositive decision, all 6
were maintained valid by the PRB. In addition, in two cases, ZTE
withdrew a petition for re-examination of one of Vringo's Chinese
patents only to re-file it citing substantially the same prior
art.
Neither of the two Chinese
patents, nor any of their counterparts around the world, have been
asserted against ZTE.
"For many of Vringo's Chinese
patents, ZTE has attempted to find a review panel that will provide
ZTE with more favorable results," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief
Legal and Intellectual Property Officer. "ZTE's repeated attempts
to invalidate patents which the Chinese PRB has already found valid
is yet another example of ZTE's gamesmanship. ZTE would rather
litigate than engage in negotiations to license Vringo's standard
essential patent portfolio on FRAND terms," Mr. Cohen
continued.
ZTE has engaged in similar tactics
around the world.
In Brazil and Romania, ZTE has
consistently filed and re-filed appeals against preliminary
injunctions in those jurisdictions.
In Brazil, in rejecting ZTE's
latest appeal-its eleventh-to the preliminary injunction in place
against it, the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals, in its
opinion issued on October 21, 2015, held that while "ZTE used its
constitutional right to access the courts to file a specific
lawsuit.such behavior constitutes a bad-faith dispute and ZTE has
already been warned of such conduct."
In Romania, ZTE Romania has
exhausted thirteen challenges to the preliminary injunction or to
the enforcement thereof in place against it. In one of ZTE
Romania's latest challenges, the Bucharest Court of Appeal held
that ZTE Romania's motion asking the Court to set aside the
preliminary injunction in light of the European Court of Justice
Huawei v. ZTE decision, outlining the factors
to consider in determining whether the holder of a
standard-essential patent abuses its dominant position in seeking
injunctive relief against an alleged infringer, was ungrounded, and
dismissed it with no further chance of appeal.
In India, the High Court of Delhi
at New Delhi is expected to rule before the end of 2015 on Vringo's
motion to hold ZTE in contempt of Court for ZTE's alleged failure
to produce a complete accounting of all potentially infringing
devices as ordered by the Court.
In the United States, Vringo's
motion for sanctions, including case-ending sanctions, against ZTE
for ZTE's conduct in the litigation between the parties pending
before the United States District Court for the Southern District
of New York remains pending.
About
Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and
monetization of intellectual property as well as the
commercialization and distribution of wire-free charging and rugged
computing devices. Vringo's intellectual property portfolio
consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering
telecom infrastructure, internet search, ad-insertion, mobile and
wire-free charging technologies. Vringo's subsidiary
fliCharge is dedicated to the licensing and commercialization of
wire-free charging technologies. Vringo's subsidiary Group Mobile
is dedicated to the marketing and sale of rugged computing devices.
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 ZTE and other
companies; our inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of
the acquisition of IDG, which may be affected by, among other
things, competition, our ability to secure advantageous licensing
and sales agreements, market acceptance of IDG's technology,
potential technology obsolescence, protection of intellectual
property rights and potential liability risks that are inherent in
the marketing and sale of products used by consumers; 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; our inability to
protect our intellectual property rights; 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; our ability to
continue as a going concern; our liquidity 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 16, 2015. 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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