A legal row has blown up over the Bluetooth short-range radio system.
A US research institution has filed lawsuits against Matsushita, Samsung and Nokia over what it claims is "unlicenced" use of the technology. Since it was developed in the 1990s Bluetooth has been used in millions of handsets, computers and laptops to swap data over short distances.
The lawsuits seek damages and an injunction to stop the three companies selling gadgets that use Bluetooth.
The legal action was started by the Washington Research Foundation which commercialises and defends the fruits of research carried out at institutions in Washington State.
The Foundation claims it owns a patent on the Bluetooth technology used in devices sold by Samsung, Nokia and Matsushita (more usually known as Panasonic). The WRF bases its claim on work carried out by former University of Washington scientist Edwin Suominen.
Could be interesting in the result. If the offence wins, then will the co.s pay a big fine and find another technology to use? or use another version of bluetooth (as that's not all the co.s that have BT so surley there are other versions of the chip)?
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