UPDATE: Vringo Issues Response Related to Patent Trial vs. ZTE, Co. Says Will to License Certain Patents on Fair Basis

Vringo, Inc. VRNG today released a statement regarding its forthcoming patent infringement trials in the United Kingdom, which were the topic of an inaccurate press release issued by defendant ZTE earlier today. "Vringo takes litigation and the licensing of our intellectual property assets very seriously.   We were surprised that any company or party to litigation would publicly make inaccurate statements.  We believe it is important to clarify and set the record straight for our investors, the legal community and our partners around the world," said David Cohen, Vringo's Chief Legal and Intellectual Property Officer. In the United Kingdom, Vringo alleged infringement of six patents: EP919, EP589, EP029, EP933, EP119, and EP212.   Trial on EP919 remains scheduled to commence in October 2014.  Trial on EP029 had been scheduled for trial at the same time but, by agreement of the parties and subsequently ordered by the court, will be deferred until a later date.  Trials with regard to EP933, EP119, and EP212 are scheduled to commence in 2015.  Earlier this year the parties agreed to remove both the infringement and validity claims, then at issue, regarding EP589. "Streamlining issues for courts to consider is typical in litigation.  Vringo is looking forward to the trials against ZTE's UK subsidiary in October 2014 and in 2015, as well as hearings in Germany, France and India, which will occur in the coming months," Mr. Cohen said. "The strength of Vringo's intellectual property, and ZTE's infringement thereof, is being validated in cases around the world," said Mr. Cohen.  "The Chinese Patent Office recently upheld the validity of the Chinese counterparts to EP589 and EP029 after ZTE challenged the validity of each patent.  In Germany, the Mannheim Regional Court has already found that ZTE infringes EP119, issued an injunction, and rejected ZTE's invalidity arguments.  The validity of EP119 was also upheld by the European Patent Office in an invalidity challenge brought by Qualcomm prior to Vringo's acquisition of the patent.  Just this week, the Brazilian Patent Office rejected ZTE's claims that the Brazilian counterpart to EP919 is invalid.  In addition, after evaluating the strength of Vringo's claims, courts in Brazil, India and Romania have granted injunctions against ZTE, ordered ZTE to post securities, and/or required ZTE to report imports of certain products to Vringo.  ZTE's statements that the strength of Vringo's patents has not been evaluated and that Vringo's withdrawal of certain claims demonstrates some sort of tacit admission of the weakness of Vringo's patents are belied by the facts," Mr. Cohen continued. ZTE's press release also exaggerates the "substantial" fees paid by Vringo.  The UK has a fee shifting system, in which the payment of costs for pre-trial applications is a routine feature.  The "substantial" fee that ZTE appears to reference was less than £40,000. Vringo has sought to engage ZTE in discussions for over two years following a decade of attempts by the previous owner of the asserted patents.  Vringo has proposed to have the United Kingdom High Court, or independent arbitrators, resolve the parties' disputes.  When Vringo tried to engage ZTE in direct discussions in December 2013 and provided settlement material under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), ZTE consciously chose to use Vringo's materials in violation of the NDA.  ZTE's breach of the NDA is currently the subject of litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which has granted a temporary restraining order against ZTE. Notwithstanding ZTE's actions to date, Vringo remains willing to license its standard essential patents to ZTE on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.