ZTE's Latest Challenges To Overturn Brazilian Preliminary Injunction Fail
NEW YORK - June 11, 2015 - Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNG), a company engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property, today announced that two courts in Brazil have denied ZTE's latest challenges to the injunction, which has prevented it from commercializing 3G, 4G, or LTE infrastructure technology in Brazil since April 15, 2014.
In the first ruling, the Vice-Chief Judge of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals denied the admissibility of ZTE's appeal to the Superior Court of Justice, seeking to overrule the appellate decision of March, 23 2015, which maintained the injunction against ZTE and rejected its request to lift the injunction upon the deposit of royalties.
In the second ruling, the 5th Business Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro denied ZTE's request to revoke the injunction and stay the infringement lawsuit. In its ruling, the Court held that ZTE failed to demonstrate that Vringo's assertion of its patent rights was "abusive, unlawful, illegal, non-customary, [or] unfair."
Since May 1, 2014, ZTE has been prohibited from manufacturing, using, offering for sale, selling, installing, testing, or importing any 3G, 4G, or LTE infrastructure equipment in Brazil. The Federal and State Courts of Rio de Janeiro have, ten separate times, denied ZTE's attempts to revoke the injunction:
- A motion to reconsider the injunction, submitted prior to ZTE's answer to the complaint, denied by the 5th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro on May 21, 2014;
- An interlocutory appeal of the injunction in the infringement lawsuit, denied by the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals on June 11, 2014;
- An interlocutory appeal, denied by the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals on June 16, 2014;
- An appeal to the Superior Court of Justice of the interlocutory appeal of the injunction, denied by the Vice-Chief of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals on August 21, 2014;
- A brief requesting the stay of the lawsuit in light of ZTE's lawsuit seeking to invalidate Vringo's patent-in-suit, denied by the 5th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro on October 2, 2014;
- A request to revoke the injunction following the deposit of "royalties" in an escrow account, denied by the 5th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro on December 17, 2014;
- An interlocutory appeal of the decision rejecting the request to revoke the injunction following the deposit of "royalties", denied by the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals on March 23, 2015;
- An appeal of the denial of the interlocutory appeal of the decision denying the request to revoke the injunction following the deposit of "royalties, denied by the Vice-Chief of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Appeals on June 3, 2015;
- A lawsuit with a request for preliminary injunction before Federal Court seeking the declaration that Vringo cannot exclude others from using the subject matter of the patent-in-suit, denied by the 13th Federal Court on May 12, 2015;
- An interlocutory appeal with a request for preliminary injunction after the 13th Federal Trial Court rejected their request for an injunction in the abovementioned lawsuit, denied by the Reporting Appellate Judge of the Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on June 1, 2015; and
- A brief requesting the stay of the infringement lawsuit in light of a ZTE lawsuit filed before Federal Court seeking the declaration that Vringo cannot exclude others from using the subject matter of the patent-in-suit, denied by the 5th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro on June 3, 2015.
"ZTE has filed an overwhelming number of requests and appeals, aimed at delaying the proceedings before the courts," said Otto Licks, Founder and Managing Partner of Licks Attorneys, Vringo's law firm in Brazil. "This waste of time and resources in litigation causes unnecessary delay and strain on the judicial system, and judges in Brazil are not impressed by ZTE's tactics," Mr. Licks continued.
"ZTE has lost a significant number of the more than 70 filings it has made against Vringo around the world," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual Property Officer. "Courts around the world have taken notice of the fact that ZTE has attempted to abuse procedural rules, and have rejected ZTE's attempts to avoid substantive judicial decisions in favor of Vringo," Mr. Cohen continued.
"ZTE continues to value obstructionist tactics over the productive and amicable resolution of its dispute with Vringo," said Andrew Perlman, Vringo's Chief Executive Officer. "Instead of entering into good faith licensing negotiations, ZTE continues to employ vexatious tactics around the world, wasting time and money, and choosing petulance over rationality," Mr. Perlman continued.
About Vringo, Inc.
Vringo, Inc. is engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of intellectual property and mobile technologies. Vringo's intellectual property portfolio consists of over 600 patents and patent applications covering telecom infrastructure, internet search, and mobile technologies. The patents and patent applications have been developed internally, and acquired from third parties. For more information, visit:www.vringo.com. (http://www.vringo.com./)
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: our inability to license and monetize our patents, including the outcome of the litigation against online search firms and other companies; our inability to monetize and recoup our investment with respect to patent assets that we acquire; our inability to develop and introduce new products and/or develop new intellectual property; our inability to protect our intellectual property rights; new legislation, regulations or court rulings related to enforcing patents, that could harm our business and operating results; unexpected trends in the mobile phone and telecom infrastructure industries; our inability to raise additional capital to fund our combined operations and business plan; our inability to maintain the listing of our securities on a major securities exchange; the potential lack of market acceptance of our products; potential competition from other providers and products; our inability to retain key members of our management team; the future success of Infomedia and our ability to receive value from its stock; our ability to continue as a going concern; our liquidity and other risks and uncertainties and other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 16, 2015. Vringo expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Investors and Media:
Cliff Weinstein
Executive Vice President
Vringo, Inc.
646-532-6777
cweinstein@vringoinc.com
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Vringo, Inc. via Globenewswire
