UTStarcom, Starent Networks settle patent dispute

UTStarcom, Starent Networks settle patent dispute; Starent to pay UTStarcom $3.5M for licenses

• On 2:46 pm EDT, Thursday October 15, 2009

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- UTStarcom Inc., which makes telecommunications equipment, said Thursday it settled a patent scuffle with Starent Networks Corp. that began in 2005.

Under the agreement, Starent will make a one-time payment to UTStarcom for $3.5 million in exchange for a perpetual royalty-free license to UTStarcom patents.

The settlement also includes the dismissal of two pending lawsuits in U.S. District Courts in Illinois and California.

UTStarcom filed the first patent suit against Starent in early 2005, saying Starent's development and testing of a software upgrade for certain network technologies violated its patent. Starent filed a counterclaim, and both companies asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine the relevant patent.

UTStarcom in 2007 filed a second suit against Starent plus 16 individual defendants for patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets and other intellectual property-related claims.

UTStarcom shares lost 2 cents to $2.18 in afternoon trading, while Starent gained 9 cents to trade at $33.88.