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iBiquity Moves To Dismiss Continental Automotive Lawsuit
May 22, 2014 at 4:20 AM (PT)
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iBIQUITY DIGITAL CORP. has filed a motion to dismiss car radio manufacturer CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, INC. and CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GmbH's suit claiming iBIQUITY misused its HD RADIO patents to "improperly expand the scope of its patent monopoly by demanding royalties over components not within the scope of the patent claims."
The motion, filed MONDAY (5/19) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of ILLINOIS, Eastern Division, told the court that CONTINENTAL had failed to prove that the court has jurisdiction, noting that iBIQUITY has already sued CONTINENTAL for royalty payments in MARYLAND and that two of CONTINENTAL's claims in the ILLINOIS case are affirmative defenses in the MARYLAND case and the third, for declaratory judgment, is a state law issue the court can refuse to hear.
CONTINENTAL, in the ILLINOIS case, claimed iBIQUITY's interpretation of its contract with CONTINENTAL's predecessor SIEMENS VDO AUTOMOTIVE CORP. was "wholly unrelated to the value of the Licensed Radio Receiver sold by CONTINENTAL to its custom ers and therefore not 'reasonable' in accordance with iBIQUITY’s representation to the standards development organization."
iBIQUITY priced CONTINENTAL's payments based on the invoiced price of the head-end unit rather than the price of the HD component, CONTINENTAL complained, overcharging CONTINENTAL and putting the company in danger of potential patent infringement litigation.

