Compaq Files Patent Suit Against Emachines.Compaq (Compaq Computer Corporation, Houston, TX, www.compaq.com) Compaq was the leading PC manufacturer when it was acquired by HP in 2002. Founded in 1982 by Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto, one year later the company shipped 53,000 PC-compatible COMPAQ Portables, resulting in $111 Computer Corp has filed suit against low-cost PC maker emachines (eMachines, Inc., Irvine, CA, www.emachines.com) A manufacturer of PCs founded in 1998 and backed by Korean PC manufacturer TriGem Computer, monitor maker Korea Data Systems and other investors. eMachines targeted the consumer market with its first models in the sub-$500 range. Inc and its South Korean parent companies, Trigem Computer and Korea Data Systems, for patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. . In the suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Houston, Compaq cites 13 of its patents that it alleges emachines and its parents are infringing. The technology in question covers areas ranging from password functions to display features. Emachines, which began operations in September of last year with a $600 PC, sold 300,000 units in the first quarter of this year and expects to book $1bn in revenue for its first fiscal year. Compaq's complaint identifies three separate emachines models that make use of the disputed technology and has requested a jury trial to settle the matter. Some industry watchers have already questioned the merit of the suit, rising the notion that it may have been filed solely to damage emachines' credibility and stave off stave n. 1. A narrow strip of wood forming part of the sides of a barrel, tub, or similar structure. 2. A rung of a ladder or chair. 3. A staff or cudgel. 4. Music See staff1. increased competition in the low end of the market. Compaq insists, however, that it is simply committed to protecting its investments in research and development and that it cannot allow its technology to be misappropriated mis·ap·pro·pri·ate tr.v. mis·ap·pro·pri·at·ed, mis·ap·pro·pri·at·ing, mis·ap·pro·pri·ates 1. a. To appropriate wrongly: misappropriating the theories of social science. by emachines or anyone else. |
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