Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Bluetooth gives a toothache to Electronic Giants


It seems that electronic giants like Nokia, Samsung and Matsushita have been hit with a patent lawsuit over their use of Bluetooth chips in products they sell. A not-for-profit group, Washington Research Foundation based in Seattle, which commercializes technology developed at universities, alleges the chips infringe patents under its control.
The rival Bluetooth chip maker Broadcom, has licensed underlying technology developed at the University of Washington covered by patents, unlike CSR, which is based in UK.
CSR has issued a statement describing the suit as without merit and that the company intends to defend its products from the action vigorously.
Bluetooth, a wireless protocol for connecting devices within a limited range such as an office, was originally developed in Sweden in 1994 by Ericsson engineers Sven Mattison and Jaap Haartsen. Ericsson eventually made the technology open source and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group was established in 1998, of which a foundation member was Nokia, one of the defendants in this suit.

Links;
Washington Research Foundation

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