VRINGO ISSUES UPDATE ON RECENT EVENTS IN ITS LITIGATIONS AGAINST ZTE
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
NEW YORK - February 2, 2015 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in
the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property, today
issued an update on recent events in its litigations against ZTE.
On Friday, January 30th, the UK High Court rejected ZTE's attempt to introduce
new prior art and re-argue the validity of the UK part of Vringo's European
Patent 1,212,919 ("the '919 Patent") - a patent that the UK High Court
previously found to be valid and infringed. The UK High Court ordered ZTE to
pay Vringo's costs in relation to this ruling and denied ZTE's application for
permission to appeal. The UK High Court will now turn to the issue of remedies
for ZTE's infringement of the '919 Patent. Over the coming months, the parties
will also brief infringement and validity of four additional patents that have
been asserted against ZTE in the UK.
In Romania, the Appeals Court recently upheld a preliminary injunction
prohibiting ZTE from selling and importing 4G LTE handsets and equipment. The
Appeals Court, following standard Romanian legal practice, required that Vringo
post a ?240 thousand bond to allow maintenance of the injunction. Vringo intends
to post this bond to continue to enforce the injunction. With the injunction now
in place, ZTE is legally prohibited from delivering 4G LTE handsets and
equipment to retailers and carriers. ZTE previously stated that this injunction
would result in a penalty of over ?30 million as it relates to satisfying its
contractual obligations.
Last week, ZTE filed a request that the Appeals Court reopen arguments on the
preliminary injunction appeal to allow ZTE to argue that the amount of the bond
should be increased to ?40 million since that would be a more accurate
reflection of the damages ZTE claims to be currently suffering. "Vringo
understands that not only is ZTE's request for a rehearing in Romania not
allowed by the relevant statutes, but ZTE's method of calculation of the bond is
improper and contrary to law," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and
Intellectual Property Officer.
In addition to Romania, through Vringo's enforcement efforts, ZTE is also
currently prohibited from selling certain products in Germany and Brazil.
In Germany, Vringo obtained a permanent injunction against ZTE, prohibiting ZTE
from selling or importing 3G UMTS SDR Base Stations.
In Brazil, Vringo obtained an interim injunction (upheld after numerous
appeals), prohibiting ZTE from selling and importing certain 3G UMTS or 4G LTE
infrastructure equipment.
Vringo has further secured preliminary relief in Holland and India and looks
forward to additional court and administrative proceedings in the coming months
in Germany and France. "Despite the clear indication that ZTE has no respect
for intellectual property rights, Vringo continues to offer a license to ZTE on
FRAND terms. Vringo will continue to enforce its rights through courts world-
wide in response to ZTE's unwillingness to license Vringo's patents," said
Cohen.
"We are disappointed with ZTE's tactics," Cohen continued. "Despite Vringo's
continued efforts to offer a license to its standard-essential patent portfolio
on FRAND terms, ZTE continues to refuse to engage in good faith negotiations and
struggles to find ways to delay reaching a resolution with Vringo. ZTE has even
sought to press release every minor ruling in its favor including a small fee
award (approx. $2,000) to be paid to ZTE in Malaysia."
The following list contains further information on the foregoing recent
developments as well as additional actions.
* In the United Kingdom, on January 30, 2015, ZTE's post-judgment application
to re-open proceedings and introduce new prior art -following the Court's
earlier finding that ZTE infringes the UK part of the '919 Patent, and
confirming the validity of the patent-in-suit-was rejected by the Court,
following careful consideration of all arguments made by ZTE. The Court
ordered ZTE to pay Vringo's costs in relation to this post-judgment
application, and denied ZTE's application for permission to appeal.
* In Romania, on January 8, 2015, the Court rejected ZTE's appeal of the
interim injunction granted on July 1, 2015, prohibiting ZTE and its
distributors from importing, exporting, introducing on the market, offering
for sale, storing, selling, distributing, promoting, and/or conducting any
other trading activity with respect to any 4G/LTE mobile phone produced by
ZTE and any infrastructure equipment produced by ZTE which incorporates
4G/LTE technology. Concurrent with its rejection of ZTE's appeal, the Court
immediately reinstated the injunction. As part of its enforcement of the
injunction, Vringo has provided notice to vendors of ZTE handsets and
infrastructure equipment in Romania, informing the vendors that the Court
has ordered them to cease all sales of ZTE 4G/LTE products in Romania. ZTE
has previously stated that this injunction would result in losses of over
?30 million to ZTE as a result of breaching its contracts with telecom
providers Cosmote Romania and Deutsche Telekom AG. As a result of the
Court's reinstatement of the injunction, ZTE is legally forbidden from
delivering equipment found by the Court to prima facie infringe the patent-
in-suit to these providers. Vringo has provided notice of the injunction to
both Cosmote Romania and Deutsche Telekom AG. Last week, however, ZTE filed
a request that the Appeals Court reopen arguments on the preliminary
injunction appeal to allow ZTE to argue that the amount of the bond should
be increased to ?40 million since that would be a more accurate reflection
of the damages ZTE claims to be currently suffering.
* In Brazil, the injunction granted by the Court on April 15, 2014 against ZTE
remains in force, having been unsuccessfully challenged by ZTE in six
separate proceedings before both trial and appellate courts. As part of
Vringo's enforcement of the injunction, a Brazilian court marshal and court-
appointed experts have seized ZTE equipment found by the Court to, prima
facie, infringe Vringo's Brazilian Patent 0,013,975, the equivalent of the
'919 Patent, and Brazilian customs were ordered by court to detain any such
equipment that ZTE attempts to import into Brazil.
* In Germany, on January 22, 2015, the Court found that ZTE does not infringe
the German parts of two of Vringo's European Patents. In the wake of that
judgment, Vringo will explore all possible remedies including appeal. The
Court did not rule on the validity of those patents, since, pursuant to
German law, the question of validity of patents is dealt with in separate
proceedings and before different courts. "While disappointing, these patents
are unrelated to Vringo's worldwide campaign to seek a license from ZTE on
Vringo's standard-essential telecom portfolio on fair, reasonable, and non-
discriminatory terms," said David Cohen.
* In China, ZTE has filed petitions before the Patent Re-Examination Board of
the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China for
the re-examination of 33 of Vringo's Chinese Patents. To date, eight patents
have been held valid, and five have been held invalid. Vringo retains the
right to appeal all determinations of invalidity. None of Vringo's Chinese
Patents are currently being asserted against ZTE.
* In the United States, the July 7, 2014 temporary restraining order against
ZTE related to ZTE's breach of the parties' NDA remains in effect pending a
ruling on Vringo's motion for a preliminary injunction.
About Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of
intellectual property and mobile technologies. Vringo's intellectual property
portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom
infrastructure, internet search, and mobile technologies. The patents and
patent applications have been developed internally, and acquired from third
parties. For more information, visit:www.vringo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may be identified
by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects,"
"intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such
terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are
statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to:
our inability to license and monetize our patents, including the outcome of the
litigation against online search firms and other companies; our inability to
monetize and recoup our investment with respect to patent assets that we
acquire; our inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new
intellectual property; new legislation, regulations or court rulings related to
enforcing patents, that could harm our business and operating results;
unexpected trends in the mobile phone and telecom infrastructure industries; our
inability to raise additional capital to fund our combined operations and
business plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a
major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance of our
products; potential competition from other providers and products; our inability
to retain key members of our management team; the future success of Infomedia
and our ability to receive value from its stock; and other risks and
uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on
Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 10, 2014. Vringo expressly disclaims any
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
Contacts:
Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein(at)vringoinc.com
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Vringo, Inc. via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1891007]
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Datum: 02.02.2015 - 14:30 Uhr
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