Irvine-based Gateway Inc. is finally seeing some rulings on its patent disputes with rival Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co.
Key hearings are winding down for the multiple cases and one judge has issued a few preliminary rulings,some in favor of Gateway’s claims and others backing HP’s.
The computer makers, both among the top five in the U.S., have been battling each other over patents that go back several years and cover keyboard and monitor technologies.
The cases have been fought during the past year and a half in many arenas: the U.S. District Court in Southern California, the Western District of Wisconsin and the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.
So far, both sides have been able to claim at least some victories from early decisions by a judge at the International Trade Commission.
“Our basic stance hasn’t changed: HP respects intellectual property rights around the world, but will also vigorously defend our products against improper attacks,” said HP spokesman Ryan Donovan.
Gateway declined to comment on the litigation.
With two high-profile names like HP and Gateway, the lawsuits have received plenty of press coverage. But the legal battles haven’t had a huge effect on the computer makers’ bottom lines or operations. Both companies continue to pump out computers with the disputed technology and both are reporting quarterly profit gains.
“Nobody’s managing to shut anybody down,” said Martin Reynolds, an analyst with Gartner Inc. in San Jose.
And that’s not likely to happen after the final court rulings are made, Reynolds said. Even if it loses, Gateway could use other technologies that aren’t being contested in court by HP.
However, Reynolds said he expects the legal battles to drag on.
The fight got under way in earnest in March 2004, when HP sued Gateway in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
Hewlett-Packard Development Co., an HP unit that helps the company manage its patents, claimed Gateway infringed on six patents, including technologies that involved keyboard password functions and a computer’s casing. In April 2004, the computer maker added four more patents to the suit.
HP seeks an injunction blocking sales of the computers using the patents, unspecified monetary damages and attorneys’ fees.
Gateway denied the allegations and fired back, saying HP had infringed on five patents of its own, including a video monitor patent. Gateway also sought an injunction, unspecified damages and attorneys’ fees.
No trial dates have been set, but “Markman” hearings that began in January are expected to wrap up this month.
In patent litigation, Markman hearings can be used to define the language that the patent decision will be based on, according to Jan Weir, attorney at Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth in Newport Beach.
Weir said he was not familiar with the details of the cases between Gateway and HP.
“It’s a time in which the court hears arguments and perhaps takes testimony regarding the meaning of the terms in a patent’s (original) claim,” Weir said. “It’s a very critical process. It could determine the outcome, and in many instances it does. But there’s no guarantee, and there still could be disputes beyond that.”
A few months after HP filed its initial federal case in 2004, the computer maker went to the International Trade Commission to file related patent claims against Gateway.
This summer, an International Trade Commission judge gave an “initial determination” that Gateway infringed on several HP patents.
HP has asked the court to block U.S. imports of the Gateway computer products that allegedly infringed the patents.
The judge ruled Aug. 8 in favor of four of HP’s claims against Gateway. The claims related to two patents.
However, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Gateway pointed out “those claims relate to an older mode of parallel port technology.”
The International Trade Commission is deciding whether to accept the judge’s decision or undertake more review.
Gateway has asked for a full review of the judge’s decision by the commission. A decision is expected by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Gateway has filed its own claim with the International Trade Commission. It claimed HP had infringed against a computer patent it holds for a media device. Gateway sought an order to block imports of HP’s products that allegedly use the patent.
On Oct. 6, an administrative law judge issued an “initial determination” in the case. The judge said that Gateway’s patent had been infringed.
However, the judge said the original patent itself had problems because of Gateway’s “inequitable conduct,” which indicates it didn’t disclose some key facts when the patent was first filed. The case still awaits a final decision by the International Trade Commission.
