Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday sued rival PC maker Acer Inc. in a Texas court for allegedly infringing on five separate patents. HP has sought to block sales of some Acer computers in the US, on the grounds that its Taiwanese rival had violated several patents related to power management and other computing tasks. Moreover, the fresh lawsuit marked the latest in a series of high-profile patent infringement disputes between big electronics companies.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, has accused that the Taiwan-based Acer is infringing on five patents registered by HP between 1997 and 2003. The patents in question cover a range of PC technologies involving DVD editing, processing capabilities, and power consumption and efficiency. In its official communique the company has stated that ‘this action was necessary because HP believes Acer has been selling computer products that use HP’s patented technologies without permission. The patents HP claims were infringed include those covering technologies including power management and ‘clock switching.’
On the other hand, Acer, as of now, has not given its reaction on the developments. Acer is at present the fourth most popular PC company in the world, if considered by market share, but it has been growing over the last several quarters. HP leads the world in PC shipments. Moreover, HP is no stranger to patent infringement lawsuits as last year; it settled a lawsuit with Gateway in which the two rivals each filed suit claiming patent infringement. An HP representative clarified that the Acer lawsuit and patents are different from the patents at issue in the Gateway case.
Palo-Alto based HP is has requested the court for undetermined damages and an injunction prohibiting Acer from selling any of the items that are based on the patented technologies in the U.S. In addition to it, this is the second patent suit filed against Acer recently. In March this year, Honeywell International Inc. has filed a complaint, also in Texas, alleging that Acer has infringed on a Honeywell patent related to liquid crystal display technology by installing it in notebook computers and monitors.
