Oct. 18, 2002 – Agere Systems Inc., Allentown, PA, filed a lawsuit alleging that Intersil Corp., Irvine, CA, infringed upon six wireless networking patents held by Agere.

Agere said Intersil was using three of the patents needed to comply with a wireless local area networking standard without properly compensating Agere. Agere also claimed that Intersil was infringing on three other patents for wireless system technology associated with physical layer and radio components in its wireless LAN chipsets and references designs.

“We have invested significantly in wireless LAN technology and have developed a rich portfolio of intellectual property in this area over the last 15 years,” said Jean Rankin, Agere’s general counsel. “This is a highly valuable asset, which is important to the long-term growth and success of our company. It is only fair to our business and our shareholders that we protect this asset and get a reasonable return on our investment.”

Intersil responded with the following: “We are very disappointed in Agere’s announcement that it had filed a lawsuit against us,” said Rich Beyer, president and CEO. “We feel that their claims of patent infringement are wholly without merit. We believe that our PRISM WLAN chips do not infringe any valid and enforceable claims of the patents asserted by Agere and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these claims.”

Agere is seeking monetary damages and an injunction prohibiting Intersil from using the patents in the future. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware.