IP Firm Sues Over Core Products from Dell, Acer, Asus

News
By Douglas Perry
published

A patent licensing company has hit Acer, Gateway, Acer as well as Dell with a patent infringement lawsuit that targets most of their product offerings.

In three separate filings, Round Rock Research claims that Acer, Gateway and Dell are violating eight of its patents, while Asus is infringing on nine.

All patents appear to have been acquired by Round Rock Research in a package deal from Micron on December 23, 2009. They affect inventions that were filed with the U.S. Patent Office between 1992 to 2005. The eight patents mentioned in the suit mainly refer to memory and storage technologies and include:

5,255,109: Heat dissipating LCD display

5,781,174: Image synthesizer and image pointing system

5,938,764: Apparatus for improved storage of computer system configuration information

5,991,843: Method and system for concurrent computer transaction processing

6,002,613: Data communication for memory

7,138,823: Method of generating a pulsed output signal from a periodic ramp signal and a reference voltage, and a switch mode power converter

7,285,979: Apparatus and method for independent control of on-die termination for output buffers of a memory device

7,389,369: Active termination control

The ninth patent played against Asus describes a "passivation planarization" technology that refers to a CMOS imaging device with a passivation layer providing a surface for a filter array.

Dell is accused of infringing the patents with its entire product line, including smartphones, tablets, notebooks, desktop and workstation systems computers. The suit targets Acer's H243 LCD, as well as the Aspire and Predator notebooks and Revo and Veriton desktop systems. The affected Asus devices include the VW246H LCD, the Essentio andd Eee desktop computers, all notebooks, T and R series servers and all motherboards manufactured by the company.

Acer, Asus and Dell declined to comment on the suit.

Douglas Perry
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DroKing
    Why do they allow those companies to exist? Patent Trolls need to go away n stop harassing companies that are actually making products and using them.
    Reply
  • 11796pcs
    A patent licensing company has hit Acer, Gateway, Acer as well as Dell with a patent infringement lawsuit that targets most of their product offerings.
    Someone obviously doesn't like Acer.
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    In three separate filings, Round Rock Research claims that Acer, Gateway and Dell are violating eight of its patents, while Asus is infringing on nine.
    how daRe they! patent tRoll Rises again.
    Reply
  • Yes, metals dissipate heat and are added to numerous things to do so. Applying a heat sink to a new device should not be a patent.
    Reply
  • I agree, patents were originally started to encourage development by guaranteeing the original creator of a device with some measure of legal protection. Now its being abused not by the people who create and invent, but by legal corporations that go around buying up patents so they can make money suing the geniuses that actually create the things we use. And it seems now days even the companies that are making things are still buying or filing patents left or right so they can gain a market monopoly through patent control. How far the once beneficial system has fallen. Now it only serves to stifle creativity leaving many would be inventors scared to enter the market, lest they go broke from lawsuits.
    Reply
  • skyhide
    Who the F*** started this sue-ing game? its kinda stupid and dumb....plus lame...
    Reply
  • phasmantis
    I feel like patent infringement suits have spiked in popularity. It's getting a bit out of hand, and I'm starting to feel bad for the companies "infringing" because I'm sure half the problems were thought up by themselves as an obvious/only solution.

    I'm tarting to worry if I'm infringing on any patents by the way I put on my pants...
    Reply
  • Parrdacc
    Hey the economy is crap. Everyone is hurting and needing money. I think I will create a company and look to see if I can't buy a package deal that includes patents going back the last 50 years or so and sue every company that might in some way, shape or form uses them :)

    Man how I hate these companies.
    Reply
  • davewolfgang
    First throw these cases out.

    Then put the lawyers that filed it in jail.

    Then right next to them, put the person(s) at the patent office that keeps allowing the VERY GENERAL patents to keep being approved.
    Reply
  • Sunfighterlc
    Like any economic system, over time people learn how to skirt the rules or exploit an existing rule to their advantage. Its an unending war between regulators and exploiters. Sadly at least in here the USA, most our regulators are current or former exploiters.
    Reply