After licensing talks collapsed, Symbol Technologies and Intermec are trading intellectual property lawsuits related to wireless technology.
Symbol filed a patent infringement counter-suit against Intermec in U.S. District Court in Delaware on Thursday. The Holtsville, N.Y., company alleges that Intermec infringes Symbol’s patents relating to the Wi-Fi
The lawsuit also covers Intermec’s use of Symbol Wi-Fi patents in Intermec’s bar code scanning terminals. Symbol seeks a court order to prevent Intermec’s use of Symbol’s patented technologies, and monetary damages.
In addition, Symbol has ended a long-running supplier relationship with Intermec for laser scan engines, saying it would be inappropriate to continue the commercial agreement while the companies are locked in legal combat.
The moves follow an Intermec lawsuit that alleged that Symbol is infringing on the Everett, Wash., company’s Radio Frequency Identification
In a statement, Symbols said Intermec’s imposition of RFID IP could harm the emerging industry.
“As we have a responsibility to our shareholders to protect and defend Symbol’s intellectual property, we believed there was no alternative but to file suit against Intermec,” Peter Lieb, Symbol senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.