Wi-LAN makes deals, expects more before suit

Wi-LAN this evening said the delay in its Wi-Fi lawsuit had borne fruit as it had made some settlement deals and expected more before the February 2 trial. It struck deals with 2Wire, Belkin, Lenovo, Marvell, Netgear and Westell over the past few weeks. It also anticipated that Apple, Dell, D-Link, HP, Sony and Toshiba would cave before Wednesday.

At the current rate, the trial wouldn't be necessary, Wi-LAN said.

The lawsuit was first filed back in 2007 and was an attempt to piggyback on the success of other firms. Wi-LAN claims to own the key technology behind most common wireless, focusing on Wi-Fi and DSL in the lawsuit, and sued in hopes of becoming profitable through settlements or royalty collections. The company is a patent troll by the common definition and makes most of its income from lawsuits and pre-court settlements.

A number of other lawsuits are underway and include one targeting phone designers as well as one centered on Bluetooth that targets Apple a second time among other companies.

By Electronista Staff