|
Symbol Patent Related to Overlapping Coverage of Multiple Wireless LANS to Be Reexamined at Aruba Networks' Request
(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SUNNYVALE, CA, May 20 / MARKET WIRE/ --
Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN), a global
leader in wireless LANs and secure unified mobility solutions, today
announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted
Aruba's request for a reexamination of a patent Symbol Technologies is
asserting against Aruba in a lawsuit filed in the federal district court in
Delaware. In its Order granting Aruba's request, the Patent Office agreed
that the prior art submitted by Aruba raises "a substantial new question of
patentability" regarding claims of the patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,173,922.
Symbol Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola, was granted the
patent on February 6, 2007, and, surprisingly, asserted it against Aruba
without advanced notification immediately preceding Aruba's Q4 2007
earnings conference call in August 2007. Aruba subsequently filed a
counterclaim on the basis that Symbol's patent is invalid, and also
requested that the Patent Office re-examine the patent based on substantial
prior art unearthed by Aruba. The Patent Office has now agreed to do so.
In addition to the Order granting reexamination, the Patent Office issued
an Office Action rejecting 36 of the patent's 45 claims as invalid,
including all independent claims, which Symbol stated to the court are the
claims it is asserting against Aruba. Symbol will have an opportunity to
submit a response to the Office Action, and Aruba will have an opportunity
to submit a reply to any such response. After these submissions, if any,
the Patent Office will finalize its ruling regarding U.S. Patent No.
7,173,922 in light of the substantial new questions of patentability raised
by Aruba's request.
Requests for reexamination, like the one filed by Aruba, are often
successful in having the subject patent either changed or completely
revoked. Symbol itself admitted in a recent court filing that approximately
76% of patents subject to reexamination are either changed or cancelled.
"We are very pleased with the Patent Office's decision to reexamine the
patent Symbol Technologies is attempting to use in an inappropriate and
unjustified manner against us," said Keerti Melkote, Aruba's head of
products and partnerships. "This is the first step towards ending Symbol's
aggressive assertion of this patent, which we believe would never have been
issued by the Patent Office had it known of the prior art that we submitted
as part of our reexamination request."
About Aruba Networks
People move. Networks must follow. Aruba securely delivers networks to
users, wherever they work or roam. Our unified mobility solutions include
Wi-Fi networks, identity-based security, remote access and cellular
services, and centralized multi-vendor network management to enable the
Follow-Me Enterprise that moves in lock-step with users:
-- Follow-Me Connectivity: Adaptive 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi networks optimize
themselves to ensure that users are always within reach of mission-critical
information;
-- Follow-Me Security: Identity-based security assigns access policies to
users, enforcing those policies whenever and wherever a network is
accessed;
-- Follow-Me Applications: Remote access solutions and cellular network
integration ensure uninterrupted access to applications as users move;
-- Follow-Me Management: Multi-vendor network management provides a
single point of control while managing both legacy and new wireless
networks from both Aruba and its competitors.
The cost, convenience, and security benefits of our unified mobility
solutions are fundamentally changing how and where we work. Listed on the
NASDAQ and Russell 2000? Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California,
and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia
Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at
http://www.arubanetworks.com.
? 2008 Aruba Networks, Inc. AirWave?, Aruba Networks?, Aruba
Mobility Management System?, Bluescanner, For Wireless That Works?,
Mobile Edge Architecture, People Move. Networks Must Follow., RFProtect,
The All Wireless Workplace Is Now Open For Business, and The Mobile Edge
Company? are trademarks of Aruba Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine
Media Contacts
Michael Tennefoss
Aruba Networks, Inc.
+1-408-754-8034mtennefoss@arubanetworks.com
Patty Oien
Breakaway Communications
+1-415-358-2482poien@breakawaycom.com
Copyright ? 2008 Marketwire
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, September 16-18, 2008. Los Angeles, California.
