International Business Machines Corp (IBM) settled its claim against Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), ending an effort to ban US imports of computer motherboards and graphics cards made by Asustek.
Both parties will license each other’s technology under the settlement, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
IBM said in a complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission that Asustek was using its patented technology for improved power supplies to computers, a cooling system and a way of clustering computers together so they operate as a single unit.
“Now that the litigation between the companies has ended, we both can move forward focused on delivering innovative products and services for our customers,” said Dan Cerutti, IBM’s general manager of intellectual property licensing.
The settlement ends all litigation between the two companies. Asustek had patent lawsuits pending against IBM in federal courts in San Francisco and San Diego.
In addition to the motherboards and graphics cards, IBM had been seeking to bar the imports of computers that contain the Asustek products.
In March, ITC Judge Theodore Essex found there was no violation of IBM’s patent rights. After a six-member commission affirmed his findings, IBM challenged the ruling. An appeal of that finding was dismissed on Monday by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.
The settlement “will give us both a greater ability to innovate for our customers,” Vincent Hong (洪崇仁), Asustek’s general counsel, said in the joint statement.
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