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UT Regents Receive Fourth Settlement in Patent Suit

November 10, 2005

AUSTIN – The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System has reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit against VK Corporation and VK Mobile USA, Inc. VK, a Korea-based company, settled under the Board of Regents' established licensing terms.

This is the fourth settlement received by the board since litigation was filed last March in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, to enforce the "character pattern recognition and communications apparatus" patent (Patent No. 4,674,112). The board holds the intellectual property rights to the technology.

This patent covers mobile phone functionality commonly referred to as predictive text input and in VK’s mobile phones it is enabled by “eZiText” software licensed from Zi Corp. The patented technology was co-invented by Dr. George Kondraske, professor of electrical and biomedical engineering at UT Arlington. Representing the UT System Board of Regents in the litigation is the Dallas-based law firm Shore Chan LLP.

VK Corporation and VK Mobile USA, Inc. are two of over 40 entities named in three lawsuits filed by the UT System Board of Regents in relation to the patent. Several other defendants, including Research in Motion Limited, Research in Motion Corp., Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and Philips Electronics North America Corp., MiTAC International Corp., MiTAC Inc., MiTAC USA, Inc., Mio Technology Ltd., Mio Technology Corp., USA, and MiTAC Service Centre (Houston) have taken a license and settled under The Board of Regents' established licensing terms. Negotiations continue with the remaining entities named in the lawsuits.

Information concerning the lawsuits is available on-line at http://www.112patent.com/.

The UT System is one of the nation's largest higher education systems with 15 campuses, including nine academic and six health institutions, and an annual operating budget of $9.6 billion (FY 2006). Student enrollment is projected to exceed 185,000 in the 2005 academic year. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of Texas health care professionals. With more than 76,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in Texas.

The University of Texas at Arlington is a nationally ranked Carnegie Doctoral Research -Extensive University and a comprehensive teaching, research and public service institution located in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Its state-of-the-art research facilities, strategic location and innovative student employment programs enhance its partnership with area businesses and industry. UT Arlington, a member of the University of Texas System, has more than 25,000 students from 150 countries and offers 91 baccalaureate, 76 master’s and 35 doctoral degrees within nine academic units and a graduate school, as well as the only Honors College in North Texas and one of only six in the state.

Contacts

Anthony de Bruyn
University of Texas System
(512) 499-4363
adebruyn@utsystem.edu

Background Materials

Copies of the settlement agreement, license, and research grant are available at http://www.112patent.com/.

UT System Statement: UT Regents Receive Additional Settlement in Patent Suit

UT Regents Receive Settlement in Patent Suit (08/01/05)

UT System Statement: UT Regents Pursue Patent Infringement Litigation in United States District Court (03/11/05)

U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas homepage

UT System homepage

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