ZTE Ordered to Cease and Desist Distribution of Base Stations and Pay Past Damages to Vringo
NEW YORK - December 17, 2013 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG) today announced that the Second Chamber of the District Court in Mannheim, Germany issued its decision in the patent infringement lawsuit brought by Vringo's wholly-owned subsidiary, Vringo Germany GmbH, against ZTE Corp. and its German subsidiary ZTE Deutschland GmbH (collectively, "ZTE").
The Court found that certain of ZTE's SDR base stations distributed to mobile telecommunications operator E-Plus contributorily infringe the German part of Vringo's European Patent 1,186,119 B1 (the "'119 Patent").
The Court ruled that ZTE must cease and desist offering and distributing the infringing base stations that make use of the '119 Patent to customers in Germany. The Court also issued a declaratory ruling that ZTE is obliged to pay damages to Vringo for past infringing actions. To determine the amount of damages to be paid, ZTE is ordered to render accounts to Vringo concerning the offering and distribution of infringing devices since June 2006.
Vringo can immediately put into effect the injunction and order to render accounts following payment of security to the Court and notification of ZTE. The Court set the security to enforce the injunction at EUR 1,000,000 for each defendant, and the security for enforcing the order to render accounts at EUR 50,000 for each defendant.
The rulings of the District Court are subject to appeal to the Court of Appeals. Pursuant to German law, the question of validity of patents is dealt with in separate proceedings and before different courts. Accordingly, the Mannheim Court did not rule on the validity of the '119 Patent. A corresponding nullity action filed by ZTE against the '119 Patent is currently pending with the German Federal Patents Court.
Background on Vringo v. ZTE Litigation
Vringo, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has filed patent infringement cases against ZTE Corporation and its subsidiaries in five countries, and a preliminary inquiry in Spain. The asserted patents relate to wireless infrastructure and handsets, and span seven distinct patent families.
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In India, Vringo Infrastructure filed a case asserting one patent related to mobile handsets, dongles, tablets, and infrastructure equipment compliant with CDMA2000 technology. The court recently ordered ZTE to pay a bond and provide accounting of infringing products for past and future, and set an expedited trial. Upon receiving the accounting, the court ordered that Vringo can seek further relief that may include an increased bond to be paid by ZTE.
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In the United Kingdom, Vringo Infrastructure filed two cases and asserted three patents in each case related to both infrastructure equipment and handsets. The first trial is expected in the second half of 2014.
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In Germany, Vringo Germany GmbH asserted two patents related to infrastructure equipment. EP 1,186,119 is the subject of this press release. The infringement hearing for EP 1,212,919 relating to the infringement of ZTE 3G and 4G LTE infrastructure equipment is scheduled for the first half of 2014.
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In France, Vringo Infrastructure asserted two patents related to infrastructure equipment. A scheduling hearing was held on June 25, 2013 and the trial is scheduled for December 2014.
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In Australia, Vringo Infrastructure asserted two patents related to infrastructure equipment, handsets and tablets.
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In Spain, pursuant to a preliminary inquiry (discovery) ordered by the Court on the basis of the likely infringement of the Spanish part of European Patent 1,186,119, ZTE is required to deliver to Vringo discovery materials related to ZXSDR Base Stations, which Vringo alleges were introduced and distributed in Spain during the last five years. Upon receipt of ZTE's initial responses, Vringo is requesting that the court order the production of additional information.
On May 15, 2013, Vringo Infrastructure provided ZTE with a term sheet providing for the terms under which it would license its standard essential patents. The term sheet can be found here: http://bit.ly/1c2ZqHH (http://bit.ly/1c2ZqHH).
On July 3, 2013, Vringo Infrastructure learned that the Patent Reexamination Board of the Patent Office of the People's Republic of China upheld the validity of one of its patents that ZTE sought to invalidate through re-examination.
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 500 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 (http://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; 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 21, 2013. 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
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
