Garbsen-based laser specialist LPKF today announced that it has won another key victory in the legal dispute with Motorola concerning the infringement of the patent for Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) developed by LPKF. A year ago, a lower court ruled in favor of LPKF in the patent infringement suit brought by LPKF against Motorola. Motorola subsequently appealed, but the court has not yet handed down a decision. At the same time, a decision was pending on the nullity action brought by Motorola against the patent in the Federal Patent Court in Munich. The China-based BYD Group, a Motorola supplier, joined this nullity action a few weeks ago.

On 9 July, the Federal Patent Court upheld the LDS patent as amended after LPKF provided clarifications. “Our LDS patent was strengthened by the clarifications we provided. Thanks to this, our chances of also prevailing in the patent infringement suit against Motorola in the higher court have undoubtedly improved,” explains CEO Dr. Ingo Bretthauer.

Whether Motorola and BYD will appeal to Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in the nullity case as well remains to be seen. LPKF will take action to ensure that the patent infringement proceedings now proceed as quickly as possible.

The LDS method patented by LPKF enables circuit traces to be applied directly to three-dimensional plastic components. Saving both space and weight, this method is used especially in the production of parts for small, mobile devices like smartphones.

LPKF
www.lpkfusa.com