Dolby – RIM bury patent infringement hatchet

In the time of lawsuits escalating into the banning of products, news of a settlement coming along is a welcome respite. Among the latest to have buried the hatchet are Dolby Laboratories and RIM. Popular audio, imaging and voice technologies innovator and the Canadian smartphone company had locked horns earlier over technologies that belonged to the former. Dolby Laboratories had filed two patent infringements against RIM. Now, it so seems that RIM has agreed to have Dolby’s audio technologies licensed, following an agreement between the two parties, subsequently ending a patent lawsuit.

Signs agreement, ends lawsuit

The patent infringement came through when RIM incorporated Dolby’s HE AAC (High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) standard, an audio compression technology in its smartphones and tablets. Understanding that these technologies were used by the Canada-based smartphone manufacturer sans proper licenses, RIM was sued. In the infringement that followed, RIM was asked to pay up for the financial damages it had caused Dolby. The audio innovator, in fact had lawsuits filed in the U.S. and Germany, and subsequently had also sought sales ban on BlackBerry phones and the PlayBook tablet.

With RIM finally signing the licensing agreement, the lawsuit has come to an end.

Source: Agencies