News
Acer Files Suit Against Hewlett-Packard
Taiwan's Acer Inc. said Friday it has filed a counterclaim in a U.S. court
against a patent infringement lawsuit by Hewlett-Packard Co.
Acer said in a statement it filed the counterclaim Thursday with the District
Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
In late March, HP filed a lawsuit at the same court, alleging Acer had violated
five patents covering technologies that included DVD editing, managing power
consumption in portable computers and ways to use multiple microprocessor chips.
HP also filed another lawsuit against Acer in April at the International Trade
Commission alleging infringement of four of the same patents.
Acer denies the infringement allegations in court documents. It alleges it's
HP who has infringed on patents issued to the Industrial Technology Research
Institute, to which Acer possesses the rights.
In a cross complaint also filed Thursday, Acer names Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co., Quanta Computer Inc., Wistron Corp. and Compal Electronics Inc. It contends
the Taiwanese companies are liable for Hewlett-Packard's patent infringement
allegations against Acer.
Hon Hai, Quanta, Wistron and Compal each make and sell products to Acer that
are accused of infringing on the HP patents. Agreements between Acer and each
of the manufacturers obligate the companies to indemnify and defend Acer from
HP's claims, Thursday's filing alleges.