Supreme Court affirms Tessera win

Tessera Technologies announced that on Nov. 28, 2011, the United States Supreme Court rejected petitions for Certiorari seeking review of the judgment of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Investigation No. 337-TA-605 (Wireless ITC action) in favor of Tessera, Inc., leaving intact a finding that the patents asserted by Tessera, Inc. were valid and infringed by certain wireless semiconductor manufacturers. "We are heartened to see that despite Respondents' efforts to delay, the highest court in the United States has now upheld our patent rights," said Robert A. Young, chairman and chief executive officer, Tessera Technologies, Inc. "The Supreme Court's ruling removes the last procedural hurdle to getting the stayed cases in the federal district courts moving forward. Tessera, Inc. prefers to settle disputes like these through broad portfolio license agreements that reflect the value of its patents, but intends, in the absence of a licensing agreement, to pursue damages for each Respondent's infringements in these district court cases." The Wireless ITC action was brought against Respondents Qualcomm, Freescale, ST Microelectronics, ATI, Spansion and Motorola. Tessera, Inc. asserted infringement of two patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,433,419 and 5,852,326. Motorola settled with Tessera, Inc. before the decision of the ITC became final. The ITC found the Tessera, Inc. patents valid and infringed, and issued a Limited Exclusion Order and Cease and Desist Orders against the remaining Respondents. On Sept. 24, 2010, the patents at issue in the case expired. On Dec. 21, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the rulings of the ITC. Related district court actions against the respondents are pending but currently stayed in the Eastern District of Texas and the Northern District of California. A Case Management Conference is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2012 in the Northern District of California regarding certain of these stayed cases.