Geoworks files complaint against Phone.com, Sanyo

On Friday Geoworks Corp. (Alameda, CA) filed a complaint against Phone.com Inc., Sanyo Electric Co., of Japan, and Sanyo North America Corp. in the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington DC. The complaint seeks an order to block importation into the United States of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) cellular telephones containing Phone.com's microbrowser.

WAP cellular telephones provide wireless access to Internet content by using a flexible user interface (Flex UI) that Geoworks believes is covered by its U.S. Patent No. 5,327,529 (the '529 patent). The Flex UI technology was examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and awarded the '529 patent in 1994. Geoworks' complaint requests that the ITC determine that Sanyo is unlawfully importing WAP cellular telephones containing Phone.com microbrowser Software, which is alleged to infringe the Geoworks patent and to exclude from importation into the U.S. WAP cellular telephones and other wireless communications devices that infringe the '529 patent.

The technology is used under license in a variety of applications in the personal computer (PC), personal digital assistant (PDA), and now in the WAP cellular telephone markets. It is available in cellular telephones under an industry-wide licensing program made available under the WAP Forum's intellectual property rights (IPR) guidelines.

The ITC is a federal agency that conducts investigations into unfair trade practices involving the importation of products that allegedly infringe U.S. intellectual property rights. The ITC has three full-time administrative law judges who are dedicated to handling expedited investigations involving patent infringement and other forms of unfair import practices. ITC Judges routinely handle patent infringement cases involving complex technology in the computer and telecommunications fields. The agency has nationwide jurisdiction and can issue exclusion orders that prevent the importation into the United States of cellular telephones and other devices that infringe Geoworks' '529 patent.

Geoworks expects that a trial on its complaint against Sanyo and Phone.com will occur six months after institution of the investigation, and a final decision and issuance of remedial orders by the ITC will likely occur within a total of 12 months.

In April, Phone.com sought declaratory relief against Geoworks in the federal district court in San Francisco, seeking to invalidate the '529 patent. In June, Geoworks answered Phone.com's complaint and filed counterclaims asserting that Phone.com's UP.Browser and associated products infringe the '529 patent. It is expected that the ITC investigation will be resolved more quickly than the federal district court action.

Edited by Ellen Jensen
Managing Editor, Wireless Networks Online