On Dec. 21, 2006, the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) filed a complaint in United States District Court, Seattle triggering a lawsuit regarding patent infringement within the Bluetooth technology industry.

The suit hinges on two patents issued to Edwin A. Suominen, a former UW student. Suominen conducted research as an undergraduate in the mid-1990s, which led to advancements in radio frequency (RF) receiver technology.

This technology now plays a role in wireless chipsets used in Bluetooth devices.

The patenting of Suominen's research was handled by WRF, a company that provides a channel through which research institutions in Washington state, including the UW, can have their intellectual property patented and protected.

"The foundation receives tech from the U[W] for the purposes of managing the patenting process," said John Reagh, managing director of WRF. "We managed the patenting of the RF technology and are now making sure that these patents are protected."

After patents are attained, WRF licenses them to interested businesses and ensures that the creators of the technology receive compensation for the use of the licenses.

The only company to approach WRF and obtain a license for the RF technology for use in chipsets necessary for Bluetooth was the Broadcom Corporation.

According to a press release from WRF, "Broadcom approached WRF in 2005, and successfully negotiated a license on behalf of itself and its customers. Thus, wireless chipsets provided by Broadcom are licensed, and Broadcom's customers are authorized to import, sell and use its wireless products without infringing the patents."

The defendants in the suit are Matsushita Electric Industrial Company and its U.S. subsidiaries, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Nokia Incorporated and Samsung Electronics Company.

These companies obtained chipsets using the RF technology not from Broadcom, but from Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), a United Kingdom-based company that shares the Bluetooth market with Broadcom.

According to the complaint filed by WRF, "Defendants have manufactured, used, imported into the United States, sold and offered for sale devices which, or the use of which, infringes at least the '963 Patent. In particular, defendants' products containing certain Bluetooth chipsets manufactured by companies other than Washington Research Foundation's Licensee, Broadcom Corp., and specifically those manufactured by CSR ... "

By taking the chipsets created by CSR, which are shipped all over the world, and importing them to the U.S. and offering the chips for sale, the phone companies are directly infringing upon the patents. CSR is not, and therefore is not among the companies being sued in the complaint.

Defendant Nokia is still evaluating the claims made by the WRF, and intends to file an answer to the complaint in the near future.

"Nokia is mindful and respectful of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of other companies," said William B. Plummer, vice president of external affairs for Nokia. "We take all claims of infringement of IPR very seriously."

Panasonic and Samsung could not be reached for comment.

Reach reporter Camden Swita at news@thedaily.washington.edu.