Fibercore, Corning Settle Lawsuit

Corning Inc. and Fibercore Ltd. have settled the lawsuit Corning had filed against Fibercore for patent infringement. In its lawsuit initiated on Dec. 15, 1998, Corning asserted that Fibercore was infringing upon two of Corning's patents.

The settled lawsuit involved Corning's U.S. Patent No. 4,339,173, entitled "Optical Waveguide Containing P2O5 and GeO2," which relates to optical fibers having P2O5 and GeO2 in the core of the fiber; and U.S. Patent No. 4,478,489, entitled "Polarization Retaining Single-Mode Optical Waveguide," which relates to polarization-maintaining fibers.

Edited by Kristin Keiser

In a Consent Judgment signed by both parties, it was agreed that Corning's U.S. Patents, Numbers 4,339,173 and 4,478,489, are enforceable and not invalid and that certain fiber sold by Fibercore Ltd. in the U.S. was within the scope of, and infringed upon, Corning's U.S. Patent No. 4,478,489.

It was also agreed that Fibercore did not admit any infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,339,173. Corning has licensed Fibercore to sell its HiBi polarization-maintaining fibers under U.S. Patent No. 4,478,489, and its phosphorus-containing DF fibers under U.S. Patent No. 4,339,173. Other terms of the settlement were not disclosed.