Nortel to Fight $28.1M Patent Decision

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Nortel plans to fight a $28.1 million verdict it lost in a patent infringement case in a Texas court last week.

Both Bloomberg and the Toronto Globe & Mail reported that Nortel was ordered to pay Ipernica Ltd., an Australian company, for violation of technology involving “statistical multiplexing.”

The federal court in Marshall, Texas, also said the infringement was deliberate, and that finding could lead to a tripling of the award. The judge in the case has yet to rule on the matter.

``We strongly disagree that their verdict is supported by the facts or the law,'' Jay Barta, aNortel spokesperson, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. ``Accordingly, we will be filing post-trial motions with the court and we will continue to vigorously defend this action.''

Ipernica licenses intellectual property rights. The technology in the Nortel case involves transmission of telephone calls, TV images and data over digital networks.

Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and Juniper Networks have already reached settlements with Ipernica, the news sources reported.