Purdue Sues Google for Patent Infringement
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The Purdue Research Foundation has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google. The foundation alleges Google developed software for Android phones based on technology created by Purdue researchers that was patented in 2019.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas due to Google operating a regional hub in Austin where, according to the PRF, the company employs software engineers and others “who are likely to be material witnesses in this litigation.”
The foundation says a team of two professors, Dr. Charlie Hu and Dr. Samuel Midkiff, as well as then-graduate students Abhilash Jindal and Abhinav Pinak, developed technology to take care of “power bugs,” which prevent mobile apps from entering sleep mode when not in use.
According to the lawsuit, Dr. Hu presented the technology during a conference in 2012. The suit alleges Google engineers developed their own software based on the technology, infringing upon the foundation’s patent.
The foundation sent a letter to Google in August informing the company of the patent, but the says in the suit the company continues to develop its software.
Purdue is asking the court to find that Google infringed upon its patent and award past and future damages, as well as attorney’s fees and costs.
In a statement to our partners at the Indianapolis Business Journal, Google said, “We are currently reviewing the allegations made in the complaint, but we compete on the merits of our ideas and independently develop our products and will vigorously defend ourselves.”
You can view the full suit by clicking here.