More Lawsuits in MP3 Land

Little-known Texas MP3 Technologies is taking on Apple, Samsung, and Sandisk with a patent-infringement lawsuit.

The small firm says the larger tech companies are infringing on U.S. patent 7,065,417, which was awarded in June 2006 to multimedia chip-maker SigmaTel and covers "an MPEG portable sound reproducing system and a method for reproducing sound data compressed using the MPEG method." SigmaTel said it had sold the patent about a month after acquiring it. The buyer? A "Dallas-based patent licensing agency."

"Because these are such basic patents to digital music, we believe it will be difficult to design around these patents and have a commercially viable player," SigmaTel said in a statement when it announced the sale of the patent. However, SigmaTel representatives say the company retained international rights to the patent and has insulated its customers from any legal action associated with it.

Whether Texas MP3 Technologies was the buyer or whether it acquired the patent from somewhere else is unclear. In its lawsuit, Texas MP3 Technologies said it is the "assignee of all rights" of the patent and holds "all rights of recovery." The company listed an address in Marshall, Texas, in its complaint.

It's different from, but reminiscent of the ruling last week when a New York jury ordered Microsoft to pay $1.5 billion to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on patents for MP3 encoding and decoding technology.

The Texas MP3 Technologies suit, came to light over the weekend, and was filed on February 16 in Marshall, Texas. The eastern Texas city is fast becoming one of the leading locations of patent infringement lawsuits in the U.S. thanks to speedy trials and juries that more often than not find in favor of the plaintiff.

Texas MP3 Technologies wants a jury trial.

This report is courtesy of Martyn Williams of the IDG News Service. Watch PCWorld.com news for updates.

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