Apple, Siemens, Sisvel force booth shutdown at CeBIT
updated 03:00 pm EST, Sun March 7, 2010
Apple and others say exhibitor violated patents
Apple, Siemens and technology licensor Sisvel together were reported as having forced an exhibitor to shut down an exhibitor's booth at CeBIT. The three had the unnamed e-reader and netbook maker's floor space cleared out on Friday after they alleged that the company violated patents. Lawyers for Apple, Siemens and Sisvel are said to have visited the company's booth on Thursday and levied a 10,000 euro ($13,626) fine in advance of a raid the following day by German police.
Those attending the booth told SemiAccurate's Charlie Demerjian that the lawyers declined to outline which patents had been infringed or to provide evidence of the claimed violations. A representative thought to be an Apple lawyer was spotted discussing the issue with the anonymous company's staff but refused to either confirm or deny his position.
Other companies were also raided, one employee said.
While none of the involved accusers has confirmed the nature of the incident, such tactics have been common at CeBIT. Larger companies have regularly used legal notices at the expo to punish supposed patent infringers that normally wouldn't have an obvious presence on European soil.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2009
WTF?
How the h*** can company lawyers levy a fine? They have no authority to do so.