Dovel & Luner LLP today announced that a Los Angeles jury has found Sprint Nextel liable for infringing two
patents owned by California company Enovsys LLC. The jury returned its verdict late Friday, May 16, 2008, and awarded Enovsys
past damages of $2.78 million.
The
patents relate to a privacy system used to protect and manage the
disclosure of the precise location of a user’s cell phone (e.g., the
phone’s GPS position). Enovsys had alleged that Sprint Nextel’s
wireless networks use the patents in managing location-based services
provided by the nation’s third largest wireless carrier. Testimony at
trial showed that Sprint Nextel is the market leader in the growing
field of location services and saw a 50% increase in related revenues
in 2007 over the prior year.
Inventors Mundi Fomukong and Denzil Chesney applied for the first of
the patents in 1997, several years before location services were first offered for cell phones. Enovsys is an intellectual
property holding company privately held by inventor Fomukong.
“We appreciate the jury’s service in this case and feel
they came to a just result. Their verdict will ensure that the Enovsys patents are respected by Sprint and others for the
remaining nine years of their term,” said Jeff Eichmann, of Dovel & Luner LLP, who represented Enovsys along with Greg
Dovel.