31 Jul 2012

Fractus Awarded $41M in Patent Infringement Suit

BARCELONA, SPAIN, July 31, 2012—Fractus, S.A. today announced another win in its years-long battle with Samsung Electronics Co.  In his Final Judgment, U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis awarded Fractus over $23 million in damages for Samsung’s infringement, and, deeming the infringement willful, an additional $15 million in enhanced damages. Including costs and interest, the combined award totals more than $41 million.

In addition to the $41 million award against Samsung, Fractus has negotiated settlements worth nearly $70 million with major cell phone manufacturers including LG, HTC, RIM, Motorola, Sanyo, Pantech, Sharp, Palm, and UTStarcom.

“Fractus regularly licenses our patents and innovative technologies to our partners,” said Rubén Bonet, President and CEO of Fractus. “-This judgement is an important milestone that shows our commitment to our licensing efforts in the wirelessly connected devices in the consumer electronics industry.”

Fractus originally filed suit in 2009 against ten mobile phone companies, nine of which opted out of court. At trial with Samsung, Fractus proved that the company willfully infringed on four of Fractus’ U.S. patents which cover the internal multiband antennas common in cell phones, tablets, laptops, navigation devices and other wireless portable devices.  The Barcelona-based company has shown its dedication to executing its licensing strategy, having challenged in court some of the biggest names in the global technology sector.

Fractus has made itself a world leader in antenna IP and licensing, with more than 200 patents and patent applications worldwide, and over 50 in the United States.
ABOUT FRACTUS, S.A.
Fractus is an early pioneer in developing internal antennas for cellular phones, tablets, and other devices. In 1995, Fractus CTO Dr. Charles Puente filed the world’s first application for a patent on Fractal antennas for mobile telecommunications. Four years later, in 1999, Fractus was born. The company set out to meet the challenge of delivering antennas small enough to fit inside a cell phone yet powerful enough to support today’s multiband phones. Today, Fractus holds an Intellectual Property Rights portfolio of more than 50 inventions protected through more than 200 patents and patent applications in the US, Europe and Asia, and has shipped more than 30 million antennas worldwide.  Among the numerous awards and honors the company has received for its innovative work, Fractus has been named a 2005 Davos World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and one of Red Herring’s top innovative companies for 2006. It has also won the 2004 Frost & Sullivan award for technological innovation and the 2007 Elektra European Electronics Industry R&D Award.