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Patent licensing and enforcement firm General Patent Corporation International (GPCI) has announced it licensed a key cell phone patent to LG Electronics (News - Alert), on behalf of Digital Technology Licensing LLC (DTL).

 

DTL owns the “Digital Output Transducer” patent, which is essential for Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) codec and a number of cellular communication standards. The transducer also ensures backward compatibility for cell phone handsets and base stations, and can be applied toward Bluetooth headsets.

 

The patent was filed by three developers in February 1989 and granted in September 1991 and was then brought to GPCI in 2003 after the original company had folded.

 

“We were approached by the people who owned the patent and who felt there were companies infringing on it,” said Paul Lerner, general counsel of GPCI. The patent is for a small, low cost, low power transducer for handheld devices that can transmit “sound, vibration, or other varying energy over a medium, such as a cable, optical fiber, or by radio waves.”

 

Alexander Poltorak, GPCI’s Chairman and CEO, commented on the new license saying, “We were very pleased to grant a non-exclusive license to LG.”

 

GPCI is the licensing agent for DTL and will take charge of the patent’s licensing and enforcement.

 

DTL recently sued Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless (now AT&T (News - Alert) Mobility), T-Mobile, Sprint, and others for patent infringement. LG was not involved in any of these proceedings. DTL had previously announced Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung (News - Alert) as licensees of its patent, stating that the lawsuits against Cingular Wireless/AT&T Mobility had been settled once AT&T Mobility took a license under the patent.

 

DTL is a portfolio company of IP Holdings LLC. The company offers a non-exclusive license under the patent with reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.