Analyst Catfight: Telephia Files Patent Infringement Suit Against M:Metrics For Mobile Device Metering Technology

There is nothing like a good analyst catfight to stir up a slow news day. Telephia issued a press release today stating that it "has filed a lawsuit against M:Metrics with the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California for violating its intellectual property rights. The complaint asserts that M:Metrics has engaged in acts of patent infringement in connection with the development and distribution of smartphone metering software (distributed via www.mobilepanel.com)."

According to the release, "the complaint is based upon multiple patents awarded to Telephia in the area of metering mobile devices," including:

• United States Patent #6,745,011 B1 – “System and Method for Measuring Wireless Device and Network Usage and Performance Metrics.” Filed September 1, 2000 and issued June 1, 2004
• United States Patent #6,754,470 B2 – “System and Method for Measuring Wireless Device and Network Usage and Performance Metrics.” Filed August 31, 2001 and issued June 22, 2004

Sid Gorham at Telephia said, “We believe that M:Metrics has violated Telephia’s intellectual property rights through the unauthorized development of their smartphone metering panel. It’s regrettable that we need to resort to legal action, but we have been unable to obtain their cooperation through other means. We plan to vigorously protect and defend our intellectual property in this area.”

Gorham added "We are strong proponents of mobile device metering as a next-generation research tool and are committed to deploying the industry’s most representative panel for metering mobile subscriber activity. Based on its patents, Telephia is developing a device metering platform that will have the full technical and business support of mobile operators, device OEM’s and other key industry players, We believe that M:Metrics has deployed metering technology that not only infringes on Telephia’s intellectual property but also creates unacceptable risks for consumers and mobile operators. By paying mobile subscribers to install metering software to their phones that has not been certified by carriers and device OEMs, M;Metrics is creating the potential for a wide range of device performance, customer service, and consumer privacy problems.”

Haven't seen any response from the folks at M:Metrics, but most likely they'll say they don't comment on pending litigation and the complaints are unfounded or something to that effect....