Motorola pursues IP feud with Hytera in Europe

Motorola Solutions has filed more patent infringement complaints against Hytera, this time with the Regional Court of Düsseldorf in Germany.

According to a statement released by Motorola Solutions, the new complaints relate in particular to Hytera’s use of “pseudo-trunking” functionality into its two-way radio devices. This is alleged by Motorola to be an infringement of its EP 2 342 851 B1 patent.

Motorola is seeking an injunction preventing Hytera from “offering and delivering” products with the feature in Germany. It is also demanding the recall and destruction of the products in question, alongside damages.

Mark Hacker, general counsel and chief administrative officer of Motorola Solutions, said: “Today’s action is another important step in our efforts to protect Motorola Solutions’ long and distinguished track record of innovation.

“We are committed to safeguarding our valuable intellectual property, including our extensive portfolio of more than 4,000 patents, for the benefit of our customers, shareholders, employees, partners and other stakeholders around the world.”

The new action follows an earlier patent infringement complaint filed by Motorola against Hytera with the US International Trade Commission on 29 March. On 14 March, Motorola filed patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation complaints against Hytera in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

In response to the complaints lodged in the US, Hytera published a statement saying that it is disappointed that Motorola Solutions has chosen its current course of action rather than “compete in the market place” and that it is "ready to respond vigorously to Motorola Solutions’ allegations, and are fully confident that Hytera will be vindicated in US federal court".