Thursday, March 2, 2006

Gateway Pays HP $47M For Licensing infringements

Irvine-based PC maker Gateway will pay Hewlett Packard $47M to settle a lawsuit over patent infringement. Gateway said yesterday that the companies have reached a settlement to release all claims in the litigation, with Gateway paying $25M on execution of the agreement and $22M a year after that date. The agreement covers the firm's PCs from 1999 to the present. As a result of the settlement, Gateway said it will take a charge of $16.7M for the quarter and year ending December 31st. It will amortize the rest of the license over the seven year life of the license.

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