Entertainment technology company Dolby Laboratories Inc. (DLB), Wednesday said it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM.TO, RIMM), accusing that the maker of BlackBerry phones and PlayBook tablets used Dolby's patented technologies without obtaining licenses.
The lawsuits explain that Research In Motion infringes Dolby patents covering highly efficient digital audio compression technologies which allow manufacturers and consumers to provide and enjoy high quality audio while using extremely limited amounts of transmission and/or storage space for such audio.
Dolby Laboratories has filed those lawsuits in the U.S. and Germany through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dolby International. The company seeks to recover financial damages as well as halt sales of Research In Motion's products that infringe Dolby's patents.
"Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby's technology," said Andy Sherman, executive vice president and general counsel of Dolby. "We have a duty to protect our intellectual property."
The U.S. lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, while the German lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Mannheim.
DLB is currently trading on the NYSE at $43.74, down $0.40 or 0.91%, on a volume of 0.2 million shares.
Research in Motion is currently trading on the Nasdaq at $35.33, down $0.43 or 1.20%, on a volume of 11.1 million shares. On the Toronto Stock Exchange, RIM is currently trading at C$34.79, up C$0.06 or 0.17%, on a volume of 1.3 million shares.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com