HP slams Acer for alleged patent infringement (again)
Pulling out all the stops to protect its industry-leading 20-percent share of the global PC market, HP's lawyers rolled into the Marshall, Texas federal courthouse this morning and slapped Acer with another four counts of patent infringement, adding to the previous suit filed in March. HP claims that Acer also knowingly violated HP patents covering power and heat management, regulation of the data bus, and video scaling, bringing the total number of patents allegedly infringed to nine. Seeing as Acer led the industry in growth last quarter and is on track to surpass Dell as #2 (according to IDC), HP's request that the court stop the importation or sale of any Acer machines that might infringe the patents and award massive cash damages would go a long way towards protecting HP's all-important marketshare. Given the stakes involved and the nasty and protracted nature of most patent disputes, expect to see this one drag on for a while.
[Via Engadget Chinese]
