Foundation Sues Over Patent Dispute

The Washington Research Foundation, which manages patents for the University of Washington, in Seattle, is suing three major manufacturers of cellphones and other devices for patent infringement, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The foundation says a technology known as Bluetooth that is used in cellphones and other wireless electronic devices infringes patents for radio-frequency technology invented by one of the university’s electrical-engineering students in the mid-1990s.

Steven G. Lisa, a Chicago lawyer who is handling the lawsuit for the foundation, said the companies that were sued are those that import, sell, or offer to sell the products using the disputed technology in the United States.

In negotiations with the university before the lawsuit was filed, the companies named in the lawsuit denied that their products infringed the patents.

If the lawsuit is successful, it could mean a windfall for the university, The Chronicle reports.

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