Nokia cleared in patent dispute, InterDigital vows to continue fight

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge cleared Nokia of infringing on patents held by the wireless technology company InterDigital.

The ruling, made Friday, said Nokia did not infringe on four patents held by InterDigital. InterDigital disputed the ruling and said it would ask the commission to review the matter. If the ITC decides to review the case it will make its final ruling Dec. 14.

"While we are disappointed with the Administrative Law Judge's determination, the patents asserted in this case represent a very small fraction of our total 3G portfolio," said William Merritt, InterDigital's chief executive. "We currently hold and continue to receive patents covering inventions that we believe are essential to the 2G, 3G and emerging LTE standards. Other manufacturers, representing roughly half the 3G market, have recognized our intellectual property's strength and relevance and entered into licensing agreements with us. We, therefore, remain confident in our goal of licensing all manufacturers of 3G terminal units."

The comments didn't soothe investors, who sent InterDigital's stock down almost 25 percent to around $22.23 per share.

The ITC first agreed to look into the case two years ago after InterDigital said that Nokia infringed on its patents for 3G handsets. Nokia said in a statement following Friday's ruling that the ITC determination shows that InterDigital may have overestimated the value of its 3G patent portfolio.

The imbroglio is the latest for InterDigital, which has a long history of attempting to wrest patent payments from the world's handset makers. In 2007 the company won a $137 million award from Samsung, and in 2006 it settled with Nokia for $256 million in an unrelated patent dust up.

In other InterDigital news, the company this morning said it expects its third quarter revenue to be between $73.5 million to $75.5 million.

For more:
- see this AP article [1]
- see this PC World article
[2]- see this InterDigital release [3]
[2]

Related Articles:
InterDigital, Samsung resolve patent dispute [4]
ITC to study InterDigital's complaint against Nokia [5]