Suffern, NY - August 15, 2006 - General Patent Corporation (GPC), a leading patent licensing and enforcement firm, has scored another victory in its campaign to enforce a portfolio of "smart connector" patents owned by its subsidiary, Acticon Technologies LLC (Acticon). GPC announced today that Acticon has settled its longstanding patent infringement lawsuit against Askey, its 24th successful litigation to enforce these patents.
Acticon brought suit against Askey Computer Corporation of Taiwan and Askey International Corporation of LaVerne, CA in June of 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Case No. 02-CV-2729). Askey ultimately agreed to settle, and to pay past damages on the patents-in-suit.
During the course of the lawsuit, Askey initiated reexamination proceedings at the USPTO for three of Acticon's patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface"), 4,686,506 ("Multiple Connector Interface") and 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector"). The Patent Office disagreed with Askey's arguments that these patents were invalid in view of the prior art, and upheld all claims of all patents.
"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the Askey litigation," said Paul Lerner, Sr. Vice President and General Counsel for GPC. "It was unfortunate that Askey chose litigation and reexamination proceedings over a simple licensing transaction; but the reexaminations were extremely beneficial to Acticon, the litigation is finally over, and we can now focus our attention on other remaining infringers," he added.
Acticon's "smart connector" patents cover specific aspects of PC cards and other "smart connector" devices used in mobile computer communications, networking, and instrumentation control. GPC has successfully represented Acticon in 24 litigations and one hundred thirty-six licensing and settlement transactions related to these patents.