Cypress, Calif. – Universal
Electronics (UEI) announced on Friday it has filed a lawsuit against Logitech,
Inc., Logitech International S.A. and Logitech Europe S.A. in the U.S. District
Court, Central District of California, for infringement of 17 of UEI’s patents
related to remote control technology.
UEI said in a
release that from July 1, 2004, until June 30, 2010, Logitech previously
licensed certain of UEI’s patented technologies under a renewable license. According
to UEI, “Prior to the expiration of the license, throughout the remainder of
2010 and until the filing of this complaint, UEI sought to negotiate reasonable
business terms for the renewal of the license agreement but Logitech was not
willing to do so. Meanwhile, Logitech continued selling its products that were
previously covered under the license agreement without permission or proper
payment, according to the lawsuit.”
The complaint
relates to several Logitech remote control products, including the Harmony
H300, H650, H700, H900, One, H1100, Logitech Revue (for Google TV), Harmony
remote apps for iOS and Android platforms, and other applications and/or
programming for touchscreen mobile devices.
Richard A.
Firehammer, UEI senior VP and general counsel, said in the release: “The
decision to proceed with this patent infringement filing was based on careful
consideration of all of the issues. UEI has positive business relationships
with much of the consumer electronics industry. Nevertheless, the decision was
made to look to the court system to ensure that UEI is fairly compensated for
the use of its technology. We are confident that the strength of our
intellectual property will be upheld.”
Logitech did not
respond to requests for comment as of this posting.
