3Com Friday trumpeted a victory in its ongoing court battle with Intel
subsidiary Xircom, as
a federal judge denied Xircom’s motion to stay a preliminary injunction against 26 of its products, including the RealPort and
RealPort2 modems.
On Wednesday, Judge Tena Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, upheld the injunction she issued on July 26. The injunction prohibits
Xircom from “making, using, selling, offering to sell within the U.S., or importing into the U.S.” the products it covers.
3Com also said it has filed an Order to Show Cause which alleges that Xircom and Intel have already violated the injunction by
continuing to sell the products listed in the injunction on the Xircom/Intel Web site.
3Com initially sued Xircom for patent infringement on February 8, 2001, alleging the company infringes claim 29 of U.S. Patent
#6,146,209. Intel acquired Xircom later that same year.
After a lengthy legal process that included an extensive discovery period, multiple expert witnesses and many hearings, Judge
Campbell issued a 40-page report that said 3Com was likely to prevail on its claim.
On March 22, 2002, the judge granted the company’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
The following Xircom products are affected by the court’s order: RBE-100BTX, RE-100BTX, RBM56G, RM56G, RM56V1, RM56V2, RM56V3,
RBEM56G-100BTX, RBEM56G-100, RE-10BT, REM56G-100BTX, REM56G-10BT, XE2000, XM5600, XM5620, XEM5600, R2E-100BTX, R2BM56WGA, R2BM56WG,
R2BM56W, R2M56GA, ISDN/DSL-R2I, R2I-NT1, R2BEM56WGA-100BTX, R2BEM56G-100BTX, R2BE-100BTX .
RealPort2 cards, which are about the size of a credit card, can be used alone or mixed and matched with other proprietary cards
including Ethernet, ISDN, 56K modem, 802.11b, and wireless data.
This is not the first time 3Com and Xircom have gone toe to toe over patents.
Back in May 2000, 3Com accused Xircom of infringement on patents for electrical connectors and current surge-protectors for modems.
Those papers were served to Xircom in August. Xircom filed a counter suit against 3Com a month later saying its RealPort PC
card design was copied by 3Com in 3Com’s Type III PC card design.
That battle is still ongoing in a Los Angeles court and has a separate timetable that the suit in Utah.
