Motorola suing Hytera for patent infringement

[N9IIT]

Just heard on WBBM Radio out of Chicago - Motorola has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hytera alleging patent infringement with regards to "two way radio and repeater technologies"

 

[Astro_Spectra]

Motorola Solutions Files Patent Infringement and Trade Secret Misappropriation Complaints Against Hytera Communications | Business Wire

 

[N2AL]

It sounds like Motorola is upset that Hytera is giving them a run for their money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

 

[prcguy]

Yup, Motorola is known for crying when they loose the bid on a large system and they demand a recount or whatever it takes for them to win. Even though they may have the inferior system....

Then there is their insane software licensing, do them wrong there and you can do more time for that than if you murdered somebody.
prcguy

It sounds like Motorola is upset that Hytera is giving them a run for their money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

 

[N2AL]

Yup, Motorola is known for crying when they loose the bid on a large system and they demand a recount or whatever it takes for them to win. Even though they may have the inferior system....

Then there is their insane software licensing, do them wrong there and you can do more time for that than if you murdered somebody.
prcguy

You are correct, sir! Just look at the dirty dealings Motorola had in Knox County, Tennessee. I will add the link below to the news story. They managed to shut down a vote to award Harris a contract with Knox County, and some of the ways they did it, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, was by shutting people out of the 9-1-1 board, and utilizing previous dealings with personnel within the departments.

Knoxville News Sentinel - Knox Motorola Connections Deep

 

[Astro_Spectra]

The story is about intellectual property which Motorola rightly wants to protect. Equally workers, craftsmen, and engineers are free to move between companies in the same field and continue to practice their trade, craft, or discipline.

Where this crosses the line is the allegation that thousands of files were taken. Sounds like theft to me.

I don't see anything in the story about software licensing or contract bids?

 

[mikewazowski]

The story is about intellectual property which Motorola rightly wants to protect. Equally workers, craftsmen, and engineers are free to move between companies in the same field and continue to practice their trade, craft, or discipline.

Where this crosses the line is the allegation that thousands of files were taken. Sounds like theft to me.

I don't see anything in the story about software licensing or contract bids?

You are correct. Motorola is alleging that several employees took thousands of files with them when they made the jump to Hytera and Hytera used those files to build their own line of DMR radios.

Nothing to do with backroom deals on radio systems.

 

[jaspence]

Motorola vs Hytera

If Hytera had just started selling radios in the US, it would be a different story, but they have been around for several years. My first two dmr radios are from Hytera, so why did it take this long for Motorola to decide to sue? Sound like the fruity computer company approach-wait until we are getting our butts kicked and then plead for legal help.

 

[buddrousa]

Well my money is on BIG M 1 and Hytera 0

 

[Thats0Brandon]

WHAT?!

This is crazy, I just started hearing a lot of good things about Hytera. We will have to wait and see how this plays out. But non the less, Motorola needs to start doing something different. In my opinion they haven't really changed much of the years. A lot of the things are still the same. But it would be nice to see some changes. That can be a whole different forum topic on itself.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

It sounds like Motorola is upset that Hytera is giving them a run for their money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

I was told by a Hytera salesman that the head of Hytera renamed the company HYT "era" because it was his vision to end the Motorola "era" by competing head to head with them. Pretty ballsy, and they do have a nice product line. DMR radios are built to ETSI standards, so it will be interesting to learn what intellectual property Motorola claims they are infringing. Maybe the use of a PTT switch or some roaming feature.

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[Raccon]

More juicy details here.

@RFI-EMI-GUY, building equipment according to an open standard is not mutually exclusive to violating intellectual property, patent infringement or stealing confidential information (in case such allegations will be proven to be true).

 

[kayn1n32008]

From: Motorola Sues Hytera for Patent Infringement, Trade Secret Misappropriation

Motorola Solutions is seeking to stop Hytera’s sales and import of the infringing products into the United States.

There it is. Regardless if Motorola is right, They want to eliminate their competition.

Hopefully Hytera does not woo Motorolas crappy software engineers... Hytera seems to produce decent software and firmware, unlike Motorola, for their terminals

 

[romanr]

AVC patent

https://newsroom.motorolasolutions.com/presskits/motorola-solutions-intellectual-property.htm

Exhibit 7 is patent 9,099,972 ( Method and apparatus for multi-stage adaptive volume control ). I'm interested in watching the defense of this element of the case. After almost 20 years on the other side, I'm getting some popcorn and waiting for the show to start.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

More juicy details here.

@RFI-EMI-GUY, building equipment according to an open standard is not mutually exclusive to violating intellectual property, patent infringement or stealing confidential information (in case such allegations will be proven to be true).

True, but if you read the complaint, most of the features described are pretty basic to the operation of radios and repeaters. Is Motorola holding back essential patents for the DMR standard? The preamble of the complaint is pretty inflammatory. Not saying HYTERA and those employees didn't do as alleged, but can they prove these allegations of downloading 7000 documents 8 years prior?

Also, with all the inferior knock off products from China, why target Hytera? I will say I am surprised Motorola hasn't gone after a Chinese company prior to this.

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[RFI-EMI-GUY]

https://newsroom.motorolasolutions.com/presskits/motorola-solutions-intellectual-property.htm

Exhibit 7 is patent 9,099,972 ( Method and apparatus for multi-stage adaptive volume control ). I'm interested in watching the defense of this element of the case. After almost 20 years on the other side, I'm getting some popcorn and waiting for the show to start.

Very true, there are plenty of automobiles that regulate the radio volume in exactly this way, the concept is not exactly novel. Also many of the other patents seem very obvious to me. I would think a jury is going to be very jaded by this and biased toward Motorola.

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[N9IIT]

From the Chicago Tribune:

Motorola Solutions accuses Chinese company Hytera of stealing trade secrets - Chicago Tribune

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

From: Motorola Sues Hytera for Patent Infringement, Trade Secret Misappropriation



There it is. Regardless if Motorola is right, They want to eliminate their competition.

Hopefully Hytera does not woo Motorolas crappy software engineers... Hytera seems to produce decent software and firmware, unlike Motorola, for their terminals

Having seen the products, I can see why Motorola may be threatened by their competition. This is one case I will be following.

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[WPXS472]

Since Hytera is a Chinese company, they could patent the stolen Motorola technology in China and go after Motorola if they tried to sell their stuff in China. Chris Martin found out about that when he exhibited at a musical trade show in China and found a company there selling "Martin" guitars. And companies patent all kinds of things just to keep the competition at bay. Back when Apple sued Samsung, I remember hearing that one of Apple's supposedly infringed upon patents was for a roughly rectangular handheld computing device. Which is just about every smartphone ever made.

 

[AK9R]

Also, with all the inferior knock off products from China, why target Hytera?

Because Hytera has a sales and distribution presence in the U.S. The other Chinese manufacturers who may or may not be stealing Motorola's IP don't, for the most part, have a presence in the U.S. They just ship stuff here that other companies sell. You can't squeeze anything out of someone who can't be reached by the long arm of the law. Motorola can sue Hytera because they are operating here within the jurisdiction of the court where Motorola filed the suit.

Also, Motorola believes they can prove that their IP was "stolen" by former Motorola engineers who they know went to work for Hytera. Assuming that Motorola can demonstrate that linkage to the satisfaction of the court, Motorola has won their case (within the limits of whatever non-disclosure agreement or non-compete agreement the engineers signed when they left Motorola).