12 Apr 10. TruePosition, Inc., a leading provider of wireless location technologies and solutions and a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, today announced that the United States District Court in Delaware has granted TruePosition’s motion to dismiss a patent infringement case filed by Andrew, LLC, a division of CommScope, Inc. Andrew, LLC claimed to have invented a method of locating wireless phones (which it named “Multiple Range Estimation Location” or “MREL”) and asked the court to determine that it did not infringe TruePosition’s United States Patent Number 5,327,144. After concluding the discovery phase of the suit, TruePosition determined that MREL did not exist as a commercial product and that Andrew had no plans actually to offer or sell it. Accordingly, TruePosition moved for dismissal. On the eve of the scheduled trial, Andrew consented to TruePosition’s motion and the court accordingly dismissed the case. TruePosition’s 144 patent relates to control channel Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (U-TDOA) wireless location technology. TruePosition’s U-TDOA can locate any mobile phone in any environment with high accuracy and reliability. In the United States, top tier mobile network operators use it to locate callers who dial 9-1-1. Control channel U-TDOA is crucial for national security solutions, particularly given the growing needs of both government agencies and private enterprises to locate mobile phones for border security, critical infrastructure protection, and law enforcement purposes.
“TruePosition owns valuable intellectual property that is uniquely suited for mission-critical safety and security applications,” noted Frederic Beckley, Executive Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel for TruePosition. “This win against Andrew further reinforces TruePosition as a global leader in this field. We know that that this market is poised for explosive growth, and we have invested significantly in intellectual property in order to address it.” Beckley added, “We will continue to defend and protect these assets.”
15 Apr 10. A new force in environmentally friendly, fuel cell technology has been established in the UK following the signing of a co-operation agreement between Marshall Land Systems of Cambridge, UK and Nordic Power Systems of Hoyanger, Norway. The new team will be focussing on delivering high quality, efficient, ruggedised and silent diesel fuel cell generators for the land and naval defence environments in the UK. Development of the generators will take place in both Norway and the UK.
Tor Geir Engebretsen, Chief Executive of Nordic Power Systems, commented: “We are delighted to be teaming with Marshall Land Systems as they have both the technical skills and market knowledge to help us deliver our unique power solution to the UK. This agreement is a great vote of confidence in our company and our technology.”
“Marshall Land Systems is always interested in new technologies and innovations, Nordic Power’s fuel cell generators are a very good fit with our present solutions and we see many opportunities to exploit this technology in the defence market. Not only are the generators efficient but they significantly reduce logistic costs and are an excellent match for the needs of the armed forces,” said Peter Callaghan, Chief Executive of Marshall Land Systems.
He added: “This announcement is confirmation of our commitments to provide the best solutions we can for the armed forces and to meet our Offset obligations in Norway and comes rapidly on the heals of our announcement of the establishment of a new office at Torp Airport in Norway.”
The fuel cell generators are based on a patented Nordic Power technology, named “Cool Flame” and adapted for the demands of defence users. The generators will be capable of producing a range of power outputs to drive a wide variety of electronic equipment and provide auxiliary power units.
08 Apr 10. Rolls-Royce announces unconditional offer