A US judge has granted Airvana Network Solutions’ request for a preliminary injunction against Ericsson in its trade-secrets lawsuit, which was filed in 2012.
Airvana, which is seeking over $330m in damages, accused Ericsson for breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. This is in connection with the company’s sale of EV-DO hardware based on Airvana designs.
The injunction blocks Ericsson or any party in privity with Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturers from using certain hardware unless it executes software licensed from Airvana.
The court found that all of the EV-DO products marketed and sold by Ericsson were subject to the preliminary injunction motion based on Airvana hardware design.
Airvana chief executive officer ,Randy Battat said: "We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which reflected a careful and meticulous review of a lengthy factual record."
"When we filed this action against Ericsson last year we did so very reluctantly, and only because we felt that Ericsson’s actions threatened Airvana with irreparable harm, and left us no choice but to try to defend our rights through legal proceedings," Battat said.
The court said that it will also conduct a separate, related hearing in April on a second preliminary injunction motion filed by Airvana against Ericsson relating to the Digital Baseband Advanced (DBA) product marketed and sold by Ericsson.
