The courtroom is a weird and indecipherable place for us techies. Samsung has just been ordered to pony up nearly $16m in a case over patent rights over Bluetooth technology, even though the winner, Gordon Bremer admitted in court that he had nothing to do with the invention of the technology. According to the ruling by the Texas federal court, Gordon stands to get 2.5 percent of the $15.7 million verdict won by his employer, Rembrandt IP, one of the oldest and most successful “patent trolls.”
The jury found in Rembrandt’s favor on Friday after a week-long trial, finding that Samsung’s Bluetooth-enabled products, including its most popular cell phones, tablets, and televisions, infringe Bremer’s patents, numbered 8,023,580 and 8,457,228. The patents relate to compatibility between different types of modems, and connect to a string of applications going back to 1997. The first version of Bluetooth was invented by Swedish cell phone company Ericsson in 1994.
When Samsung’s lawyers asked Bremer if he was a part of the Bluetooth group in any way, he fully admitted that he wasn’t. “I made no contributions to the standards body,” he said at the trial.
But Rembrandt IP, which is keen on defending rights in this area, argued that Samsung’s products that use Bluetooth 2.0 and over infringe on Bremer’s rights, and demanded reparation. This is not a new thing fro the notorious Rembrandt IP. The firm’s website makes that very clear and explains its purpose succinctly.
“Rembrandt IP Management’s mission is to provide the necessary resources, including professional expertise and financial capital, to maximise the value of infringed intellectual property,” it said.
“We work with owners of strong patents that have great market value, and we enforce these patents against major companies that may infringe upon them.”
“Justice was done here,” said Rembrandt lawyer Demetrios Anaipakos, in a statement published yesterday celebrating the victory. “The Rembrandt inventions are at the heart of Samsung Bluetooth capabilities.”