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TruePosition Antitrust Lawsuit Allowed to Move Forward (8/23/12)
A judge in federal district court in Philadelphia ruled that an antitrust lawsuit filed by TruePosition against telecom suppliers Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Qualcomm will move forward.
Judge Robert Kelly Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, ruled in a decision issued Aug. 21 that the "allegations of an illegal conspiracy between the corporate defendants are plausible when viewed in context and as a whole."
“[W]hen viewing the amended complaint in its entirety, the allegations give rise to more than speculation. ... When read together they do raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence of an illegal agreement,” Kelly said.
TruePosition's lawsuit alleges that the defendants are illegally conspiring to eliminate an innovative technology that allows police, fire departments and other emergency responders to more accurately locate mobile phone users during disasters and other emergency situations.
The lawsuit alleges the three companies “hijacked" the standard setting organizations (SSOs) that govern which mobile positioning technologies will be in the standard for Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks. The complaint accuses the defendants of blocking the adoption of TruePosition's already existing and deployed technologies into the new standards for LTE, while at the same time ensuring that their own technologies were included in the new standards. Also named in the complaint is the standard-setting organization itself, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
"We are pleased with the court's careful study of the allegations and well-reasoned decision, and look forward to proving our case,” said Stuart Salen, senior vice president and general counsel of TruePosition.
The case, “TruePosition Inc. v. LM Ericsson Telephone Company, et. al., No. 11-4574” (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania), was originally filed in July 2011. Judge Kelly dismissed that version of the complaint in January 2012, but invited TruePosition to refile with more specific allegations of an antitrust conspiracy. The amended complaint was filed in February 2012.
TruePosition's Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (U-TDOA) is deployed in the United States by two major wireless service providers to support the E9-1-1 emergency location system.
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