Infineon and Lantiq Deutschland have defended themselves against patent infringement allegations asserted by CIF Licensing. CIF, a member of the General Electric Group, had filed suit against Deutsche Telekom in October 2007. The allegations made in the suit were leveled against Infineon’s meanwhile sold Wireline business – today Lantiq. The settlement now concluded stipulates CIF’s withdrawal of its patent infringement suits.

Infineon, Lantiq and other parties to the proceedings will receive a license without monetary consideration in respect of the four patents in suit and its foreign counterparts.

From October 2007, CIF instituted a number of proceedings first against Deutsche Telekom, later also against Infineon, Arcor, United Internet, Hansenet Telekommunikation - today Telefonica Germany - and several suppliers. The litigations essentially related to four patents allegedly used by the defendant companies in certain DSL products.

Led by Infineon and Lantiq, several defendant companies and suppliers formed a joint defense group. Infineon and other companies in the joint defense group filed nullity suits with the German Federal Patent Court in Munich against the four patents. Since the German Federal Patent Court held that two nullity suits were well founded, the parties have now reached a settlement. Under the terms of this settlement, certain parties to the proceedings are allowed to retroactively use the patents without monetary consideration.