The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 4 dismissed all four charges filed by Motorola against Dbtel Technology, a Taiwan-based mobile phone maker, and denied Motorola’s request to restrain Dbtel from selling own-brand handsets for six months, citing insufficient evidence.
The ruling sent Dbtel’s stock surging the daily limit to close at NT$16.6 on trading Monday on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).
Motorola sued Dbtel in May 2002, accusing the Taiwanese maker of leaking business secrets, copying Motorola handset designs, violating GSM handset manufacturing agreements by selling an own-brand GSM phone within six months of the end of the partnership and owing Motorola US$46 million in loans.
Dbtel manufactured the V2282 and T189 handsets for Motorola from 1998 through 2002. Tensions have been brewing since the partnership ended in April 2002. Dbtel began selling own-brand GSM handsets in November 2001.
Article translated by Chinmei Sung and edited by Richard So
