Lawsuit against Acer's Aspire 2000 series

It looks that here is the reason for discontinuing Aspire 2000 line of Acer's products.

http://article.wn.com/link/WNAT6D01DE912B7316BA5275B374B190DFA8?source=templategenerator&template=texasworldnews/stories.txt
http://www.computerworld.dk/usarticles.asp?USArticleID=7804&Print=Yes

Compal gets Acer in a fix

By Amber Chung
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Aug 26, 2004,Page 10
A US-based video software company on Tuesday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Acer Inc, but the local computer manufacturer said yesterday that impact from the lawsuit on its sales would be limited.

Acer said the question of the patent coverage is in doubt, a company official told the Taipei Times in a phone interview.

"Our supplier [Compal Electronics Inc (Èʌš)], which manufactures the alleged patent-infringing computer products, has assured us that the technology is theirs, and we trust their statement," said Doris Feng (ñTæÃâù), Acer's public relations officer.

"We will spare no effort to defend our brand image and interests," Feng said.

InterVideo Digital Technology Inc, a Fremont, California-headquartered DVD and multimedia software company, filed patent infringement lawsuits in Taipei District Court and in US Western District Court in Austin, Texas against Acer and Acer America Corp.

InterVideo argues that Acer's Aspire 2000 notebook PC series infringes on several patents, including hotkey functions that allow users to activate multimedia applications without needing to start up Microsoft's Windows operating system in advance.

InterVideo asked the "United States Western District Court in Austin to enjoin Acer and Acer America Corp from the manufacture, sales, offer to sell, use and importation of products which infringe on the patents," the company said in the statement.

InterVideo also wants Acer to pay for all damages, including royalties and attorney fees and costs.

Feng said that Acer consulted with InterVideo before the lawsuit was filed and that the company regretted InterVideo's insistence on following through with the lawsuits.

"The incident will not impact our sales since the high-end notebook computer series accounts for only a small portion of our shipments," Feng said.

The written agreements with the suppliers that all the technology and services should be free from patent infringement is also likely to secure Acer's rights, Feng said.

"It's too early to say whether we will approach our supplier for compensation," she said.

Gary Lu (…ÎÇåÐÛ), a spokesman for Compal, which is also client of InterVideo, said that the manufacturer did not encroach on any patents.

Lu said Compal will seek further clarification on the issue with InterVideo.

Compal may eventually need to bear the responsibility once the patent infringement case is brought to court, according to an official at the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

In light of legal precedents, contract manufactures or outsourced companies need to shoulder the blame if they are the actual ones who committed the violation, BSA Taiwan Committee's co-chair Sung Hong-ti (Ëμt‹q) said.