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Court affirms ruling against UT System in suit appeal

Written by Julie Ann Sanchez

Tuesday, 29 July 2008 09:16 PM

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington upheld an Austin federal court’s judgment in favor of Motorola Inc. and other wireless phone companies after the UT System filed a patent infringement claim against them.

The federal appeals court asserted the Austin federal court’s July 24 decision and wrote in its opinion that “the Board of Regents alleges that the district court erred in granting summary judgment … in spite of evidence to the contrary, that the accused devices include vocabularies only complete words. The district court did not make that incorrect assumption.

The system argues Motorola and other wireless phone companies infringed on a 1987 patent developed by UTA electrical engineering professor George Kondraske. The patent involves predictive text — the way possible words are completed when writing a text message via cell phone. The text user is given an option of how a word can be completed.

The UT System’s case against Motorola and other cell phone companies argues that part of that technology was used without permission or compensation.
A decision in favor of the UT System’s case could have meant millions of dollars for UTA.

Alfonso Chan, lawyer and partner of Shore Chan Bragalone LLP and the UT System’s outside representation, said following the federal appeals court decision, the UT System has options available regarding the case.

Those three options include a request for reconsideration by the panel of three judges, two circuit and one district judge; request for rehearing en banc, which would bring all 12 judges of the federal court to look at the case or file a petition to the Supreme Court.

Anthony P. de Bruyn, UT System Public Affairs director, said he would not speak specifically about the additional steps being pursued in regard to the case.

“We’re reviewing our options,” hee said, adding the counsel will do its best to “defend UT System’s intellectual property.”

Kondraske, when contacted by The Shorthorn, said he had been “officially instructed by the university to not give any comments to the media regarding the case.”
Calls to Ronald L. Elsenbaumer, Research and Federal Relations vice president, were unreturned as of press time.

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:52 PM )

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