Wi-LAN passes key milestone in infringement suit against Apple, Dell, HP

Wi-LAN (Wi-LAN Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:WIN) today announced that the judge in its infringement case against Apple, Dell, HP and others has issued a claims construction Opinion and Order.

Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued the order. The stage of pretrial proceedings, which is commonly know as a “Markman Hearing”, aims to determine the use of relevant key words in a patent claim.

Markman hearings in patent infringement cases have become common practice in the U.S. Supreme Court since the 1996 case of Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., found that the language of a patent is a matter of law for a judge to decide, not a matter of fact for a jury to decide.

Wi-LAN CEO Jim Skippen said he was pleased with today’s outcome.

“After reviewing the result with outside counsel, we are pleased with the ruling and view it as a positive outcome for WiLAN,” he said.

The case is scheduled to begin on October 7th.

Late last year, Wi-LAN filed three suits claiming infringement of its fourth-generation LTE wireless technologies against Apple, HTC and Sierra Wireless in a federal court in Florida.

Two separate suits, related to 3G HSPA handset products, were filed against Apple and Sierra Wireless in Texas.

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