Apple, Dell, Sony now part of Bluetooth suit

Apple Inc., Dell Inc., Sony Corp. and five other technology companies were added to a lawsuit over patents covering Bluetooth, threatening their use of a wireless-communication standard that's in millions of devices.

The non-profit Washington Research Foundation sued Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Nokia Oyj over Bluetooth in Seattle federal court in December. Apple, Dell and Sony were added as defendants March 15, along with Logitech International SA, Motorola Inc., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Toshiba Corp. and Plantronics Inc., court papers show.

The suit threatens the ability of the computer and device makers to deliver wireless capabilities to customers.

The companies are accused of infringing four patents covering technology that lets users exchange data among mobile phones, personal computers and other devices without using cables.

The Seattle-based foundation, which has generated more than $150 million for the University of Washington, is asking for money damages and a court order barring the sale of products that use the patented technology. More than 1 billion devices worldwide are equipped with Bluetooth technology, according to the Bellevue-based Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Apple, maker of the Macintosh computer, incorporated Bluetooth into the Mac operating-system software to let users link to devices with the wireless standard. Dell, the world's second-largest personal computer maker, built Bluetooth into its machines and offers Bluetooth wireless keyboards.

The foundation's suit is aimed at products with chips made by CSR Plc., which the group says is using its Bluetooth technology without permission. The foundation licensed its technology to another chip maker, Broadcom Corp., and it isn't suing for infringement over products that use those wireless- communications chips.