Aruba gets a leg up in patent infringement battle with Motorola

Aruba Networks Inc. said it won round one in a patent infringement case filed against the company by Motorola Inc. and two of its subsidiaries regarding technology used for the wireless local area network market.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a preliminary decision that rejects claims of patent infringement asserted by Motorola for one of four patents in question, according to Aruba officials.
The government agency rejected the claim and once the decision is finalized, the USPTO’s decision would invalidate the entire patent owned by Motorola subsidiary, Wireless Valley Communications Inc., according to Aruba officials.
“We believe that the existence of prior art, especially Wireless Valley’s own User Manual, that predated Wireless Valley’s patent filing carried great weight with the Patent Office,” Mike Reinemann, patent counsel to Aruba, said in a statement.
Motorola issued a statement that said the patent office decision is “by no means final or determinative. Thus far only Aruba has provided input to the patent office. The patent office expects Motorola’s subsidiary Wireless Valley to respond to the issues raised.”
The three other patents in question are still being reviewed by the agency. Motorola said its lawsuit against Aruba is scheduled for trial in 2010.
In August 2007, Motorola filed a lawsuit claiming Aruba was illegally using four patents developed by its subsidiaries, Wireless Valley and Symbol Technologies Inc. Motorola claims two patents belonging to Symbol for wireless switch architecture related to WLAN communication technologies are being infringed upon. The company also claims two patents by Wireless Valley to manage wireless networks in and around buildings are being used illegally by Aruba.
In a countersuit filed in September, Aruba questioned the legality of the four patents and asked for the patent office to review each of the technologies in question. Aruba is also suing Motorola for infringing on two of its patents related to managing wireless computer networks and network security. The countersuit is also pending in U.S. District Court in Delaware.