Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, or CSIRO, obtained the US patent, number 5487069, in 1996. It covers the IEEE’s 802.11a/g WiFi standards.
CSIRO filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Buffalo Technology Inc, a US WiFi gear maker, last year. Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Intel have separately filed countersuits to block CSIRO’s royalty claims.
Even though a federal court in Texas has now ruled the patent is valid, it is unclear just how the CSIRO’s will be able to use it to seek royalties from the entire WiFi industry. And appeals to the court’s ruling are likely.
