December 20, 2007

http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800494470_1034362_NT_bcaae6ff.HTM?click_from=RSS

TPL, Patriot settle patent suits with Japanese firms

The TPL Group and Patriot Scientific Corp. have settled IP disputes with Japanese companies Toshiba, Matsushita, JVC and NEC.

In one settlement, TPL, Patriot, Toshiba, Matsushita and JVC have entered into a business resolution of their legal disputes in two patent infringement suits pending in the U.S. District Courts in the Eastern District of Texas and the Northern District of California.

The terms of their settlement include the grant by the TPL of rights under the Moore Microprocessor Patent Portfolio (MPP) to Toshiba, Matsushita and JVC and their respective subsidiaries. The parties have agreed that the details of the settlement remain confidential.

TPL and Patriot have also entered into a business resolution of their legal disputes with NEC Electronics America in two patent infringement lawsuits pending in the U.S. District Courts in the Eastern District of Texas and the Northern District of California. The settlement includes the grant by TPL of rights under the MPP to NEC and its subsidiaries.

The MMP portfolio, owned jointly by Patriot and the TPL, is named after inventor Charles H. Moore, chief technology officer of TPL Group, who is known for inventing the forth software programming language and for his work in the 1980s on stack-based microprocessors.

In 2003, Patriot launched a "patent compliance" campaign, seeking IP licenses from hundreds of systems companies in the commercial, industrial, and military sectors that use microprocessors with internal capabilities greater than 120MHz, a market it sized in excess of $200 billion.

Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and others have signed licensing deals with the IP firms. In 2005, processor developer and IP company Patriot was named a defendant in five declaratory judgment lawsuits filed in the Federal District Court in Oakland, California, by a group of 20 Japanese electronics manufacturers.

- Mark LaPedus
EE Times