* Patent holder sues Ethernet switch companies over PoE
Some of the biggest manufacturers of Ethernet switches were slapped by a lawsuit this week. A company that used to write security software accused them of infringing on its patents for Power over Ethernet.
In 2002, Network-1 Security Solutions found that it couldn’t make enough money to sustain its security-software business, so it sold off its product and decided to go into a new business: licensing intellectual property. In 2003, it acquired a set of patents from Merlot Communications, including one patent relating to Power over Ethernet.
In 2005, Network-1 sued D-Link for infringing that patent, eventually reaching a settlement last year and a licensing deal. Meanwhile, Network-1 settled with PowerDsine as well, without a licensing deal.
Companies that have no products of their own and exist solely to get money from companies that do make products of their own – either by litigation or the threat of litigation – are sometimes called “patent trolls.” Tech companies are claiming that such practices hinder innovation, and they are lobbying Congress to change the patent law in this country.
This week, Network-1 sued Cisco, Enterasys, Foundry Networks, Extreme Networks, Netgear, Adtran and 3Com.
The part of the patent that Network-1 emphasizes on its Web site relates to detecting whether a device supports Power over Ethernet: “The detection is performed by sending a low-level current to the device and measuring the electrical response characteristics of the resulting circuit to determine if it meets the requirements for a compatible Powered Device.”
If you followed the link you’ll notice that Network-1 also holds patents related to quality-of-service controls, so the PoE patent may not be their only card. PoE is certainly an attractive target, though, as the technology is being built into many Ethernet switches these days.
Who knows how this will all shake out? Will those major vendors be forced to capitulate the way D-Link did? Or will their fight be successful? Only one group’s sure to win: the lawyers.
