23 April 2014

ITC rules Mellanox does not infringe Avago’s laser driver patent

Mellanox Technologies Ltd of Sunnyvale, CA, USA and Yokneam, Israel, a supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions for data-center services and storage systems, says that, on 17 April, the US International Trade commission (ITC) issued its Final Determination ruling that its active optical cable (AOC) products and vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) drivers do not infringe Avago Technologies’ US patent number 5,596,456, directed to a laser driver, which was asserted against Mellanox by Avago in an ITC complaint (Inv. No. 337-TA-860) filed in September 2012.

“Mellanox and IPtronics do not infringe the key patent at issue in the case,” says Mellanox’s president & CEO Eyal Waldman.

However, the ITC affirmed the administrative law judge (ALJ) ruling that certain Mellanox cable products containing a particular type of VCSEL do infringe another of Avago’s patents (US patent no. 5,596,595) directed to a VCSEL, and issued a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders with respect to those products. The VCSELs in the products at issue are supplied to Mellanox by third parties.

Nevertheless, Mellanox says that these orders will not interrupt its ability to supply cables or otherwise impact its current or planned product offerings. Those orders are also not expected to have a material adverse effect on the firm’s business, financial position, results of operations or cash flow, it adds.

Tags: VCSELs AOC Avago Mellanox

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