NTP, Salesforce.com Sue

A new patent-infringement lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft by NTP, which holds patents on wireless e-mail technologies in many mobile devices and has a history of successful litigation. In addition, Salesforce.com has countered Microsoft’s patent-infringement lawsuit with its own filing, which could increase the odds of a settlement.

NTP Sues Over Mobile

In July 2010, patent-holding company NTP filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft, as well as mobile handset makers Apple, Google (which distributes the Android mobile OS and has also built Android-based phones), HTC, LG Electronics, and Motorola. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia.

NTP holds several patents related to wireless e-mail and has a history of successful litigation: in 2006, the company licensed its technology to Research In Motion (RIM) for more than US$600 million following years of legal battles and several judgments in NTP’s favor. NTP has also licensed its technology to mobile e-mail solution provider Good Technology (which merged with Visto, another NTP licensee, in 2009) and mobile handset maker Nokia. NTP has filed patent-infringement lawsuits against several other companies, including wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, but those lawsuits were stayed pending an investigation by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) into the validity of NTP’s patents. That investigation continues, but in Dec. 2009 the USPTO’s appeals board ruled that 67 claims in four of NTP’s patents were valid.