DALLAS-The U.S. International Trade Commission has ended its investigation of Nortel Networks Ltd. for allegedly infringing on Ciena Corp.’s patents. The decision follows a recently issued preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, prohibiting Ciena from participating in or pursuing the ITC action and requiring Ciena to seek termination of the investigation by the ITC.
Nortel had denied the patent infringement claims made by Ciena in the U.S. District Court in Marshall earlier this year. In March, in the same court, Nortel filed counterclaims against Ciena for allegedly infringing on 13 U.S. patents owned by Nortel. The trial is set for June 2006. Nortel is seeking damages and an injunction prohibiting Ciena from shipping products that infringe on Nortel’s patents.
In January 2003, Ciena paid Nortel $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Nortel alleging that Ciena had infringed on patents and misappropriated trade secrets. In the settlement, Nortel granted Ciena a license under specific patents and the two agreed not to sue each other for patent infringement for two years, during which time the two sought to negotiate a cross-license arrangement.
Ciena, headquartered in Linthicum, Md., reported earnings of $298.7 million in 2004.
