Aruba early winner in patent battle with Motorola : Case not final yet

For the second time in as many weeks, Aruba Networks Inc. has received a favorable ruling by the government in a patent infringement case with Motorola Inc. and two of its subsidiaries.
Aruba announced today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a preliminary report rejecting 12 of 14 claims Motorola cited as patent infringement in technology that belongs to Wireless Valley Communications Inc.
Motorola has filed a lawsuit claming infringement of four patents by Aruba. The company claims two patents by Wireless Valley to manage wireless networks in and around buildings are being used illegally by Aruba. The other two patents in question belong to Symbol Technologies Inc. This technology is used for wireless switch architecture related to WLAN communication technologies.
The patent office is reviewing all four patents at the request of Aruba, which has questioned the legality of each of the patents.
“For the second time in the month of February, the USPTO has issued an action that is very favorable to Aruba,” Mike Reinemann, a lawyer for Aruba, said in a statement. “The preliminary ruling finds that the great majority of claims are unpatentable, and the two surviving claims are not at issue in the case. We look forward to receiving initial rulings from the Patent Office in the pending re-examinations of Motorola’s other two patents.”
Last week, the patent office issued its first preliminary ruling in the case.
Motorola officials have said that ruling made so far in the case are not final and the company will be able to respond to the issues raised by the patent office before a final decision is made.
In August 2007, Motorola filed the lawsuit against Aruba, which filed a countersuit against Motorola last September. Aruba claims Motorola is infringing on two of its patents related to managing wireless computer networks and network security.
Motorola’s lawsuit is scheduled for trial in March 2010, and Aruba’s countersuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Delaware.