Adaptix Files Lawsuit Against Sprint-Clearwire For Patent Infringement: WiMAX In Trouble?
Adaptix, Inc., a Carollton, Texas-based WiMAX service provider filed a lawsuit on December 1 claiming Sprint and Clearwire infringed on six of its patents. I’m currently looking into what the patents were granted for but all six were granted between June 2005 and November 18, 2008.
The Kansas City Business Journal reports that Adaptix said in the filing that the infringements, “will continue to damage Adaptix’s business, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law, unless it is enjoined by this court.” If enjoined by the court, Adaptix is reported to be seeking “unspecified damages, payment of legal fees and a permanent injunction keeping the defendants from further infringing on its patents”, said the Journal.
This is the latest reported challenge the new United States WiMAX rollout by Sprint-Clearwire, aka Clear, is facing. Just days ago it was reported that the network may need another $2 billion to $2.3 billion in order to complete its rollout on time. If not, some markets slated for WiMAX in 2009 could be pushed into 2010 when the Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G standard being used by Verizon Wireless and AT&T will become available. LTE is widely held to be the ultimate fourth generation network with throughputs theoretically up to twice as fast as WiMAX.
Update: Adaptix has been granted well over 6 patents since 2005. I currently have an email in to the company asking for more information.
