Motorola Solutions sues Hytera Communications for using stolen patents, trade secrets
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Motorola Solutions sues Hytera Communications for using stolen patents, trade secrets
Editor's Note: This article was updated at 11:25 a.m. EST on March 15 with a statement from Hytera Communications.
Motorola Solutions today filed lawsuits alleging that Hytera Communications' digital mobile radio (DMR) equipment and systems that leverage Motorola Solutions patents and trade secrets that were taken from the radio giant by three engineers who left the company to join Hytera Communications.
While some intellectual-property lawsuits involve disputes over the creation and use of technology developed along parallel tracks by different entities, the circumstances of Hytera Communications’ use of Motorola Solutions’ patents and trade secrets are much more “brazen,” according to Mark Hacker, Motorola Solutions’ general counsel and chief administrative officer.
“This isn’t coincidental infringement of a patent,” Hacker said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “This is part of a deliberate scheme to steal and copy our technology.”
According to the trade-secrets lawsuit, Hytera Communications infringed on several features associated with Motorola Solutions’ popular MOTOTRBO line of digital radios:
- Voice-Operated Transmission (VOX);
- Telemetry;
- Dynamic Mixed Mode (DMM) priority scan;
- Location-based services;
- GPS Revert Channel;
- Digital Telephone Patch (DTP); and
- Digital emergency (“Man Down”) and “Lone Worker” capabilities.
These technology features were implemented in Hytera Communications’ DMR products, which were developed “at a very quick pace” after Hytera—a company that previously manufactured only analog radios that “were quickly becoming ‘obsolete’”—began hiring engineers who had resigned from Motorola Solutions in 2008, according to the lawsuit. At the heart of Hytera’s digital technology was improperly obtained intellectual property that was developed and funded by Motorola Solutions, the litigation alleges.
“Motorola has been building its radios and its reputation for almost a century, and Hytera tried to hijack both in just a few months—and continues to do so to this day,” according to the lawsuit.
A day after the filing, Hytera Communications provided the following statement about the legal action taken by Motorola Solutions:
"We have read Motorola Solutions' news release published on its company website and are aware of its complaint," according to the Hytera statement. "Hytera's policy is not to comment on cases that are presently before a court.
"As a global company headquarterd in Shenzhen, China, Hytera upholds a high ethical standard for business and strictly complies with the laws and regulations in the markets where we operate. Hytera firmly believes that its business practices and operations will be fully vindicated. Hytera aspires to, and will continue to, be the trusted partner for our customers and a respectful global corporate citizen."
Hytera Communications acquired the intellectual property after hiring three engineers that had resigned from Motorola Solutions, according to the lawsuit. All three of the engineers cited in the case—Samuel Chia, Y.T Kok and G.S. Kok—continue to work at Hytera Communication in senior-level positions today, according to a Motorola Solutions press release.
“In the period leading up to their resignations, through a series of serious misrepresentations and carefully planned illegal acts, these engineers maliciously accessed, downloaded and transferred more than 7,000 highly confidential files related to Motorola Solutions’ technologies, including confidential technical, marketing, sales, legal and other types of trade secret materials,” according to the Motorola Solutions press release.
“Subsequently, Hytera began illegally manufacturing and marketing a line of products and technologies containing technologies invented, designed, developed and in some cases patented by Motorola Solutions.”
‘VOX,’ ‘Telemetry,’ ‘Lone
‘VOX,’ ‘Telemetry,’ ‘Lone Worker,’ ‘Man Down,’ ‘Mixed Mode Scanning,’ ‘Phone Feature,’ and ‘GPS Revert Channel’ are all generic featuresand terms that someone would expect in a global digital radio standard
Motorola nonsense, as usual.
Motorola nonsense, as usual. Anyone that has been in this business for any length of time recognizes those features as something multiple manufacturers have been doing for quite some time. VOX has been around since the days of crystal radios, Man Down is incorporated in every public safety standard radio, phone interconnect features have been around since LTR was in its infancy, Mixed Mode Scanning has been around since P25 was in its beginning phases, and so on. Here is the translation: Motorola is getting there fascist butts kicked in the DMR market by a superior and better selling product. The vast majority of my former Motorola customers are buying Hytera DMR because it works and their budgets aren’t being depleted by the “radio giant”. It will be a great day when “the radio giant” finally closes their doors. I would rather deal with Communists pretending to be capitalists then a supposedly “free market” capitalist company operating as fascists. This is especially rich since the vast majority of the “radio giants” gear is made in China. The only thing American about the “radio giant” is the fact that they have a headquarters and some buildings here. Not one of their radios has truly been built or manufactured by an American in a very long time. I’m surprised that they are still allowed to do business with our government since they really don’t make anything in the U.S..
I’ll bet Motorola is really
I’ll bet Motorola is really proud of themselves, shifting engineering and product manufacturing overseas to Malaysia, and Mexico, and hiring an army of H1B Visa engineers. Yes-siree no risk or vulnerability there!
You can’t expect anything
You can’t expect anything good from China, this is their entire manufacturing paradigm, steal, copy and reproduce at a much lower price point with zero R&D, zero environmental protection and so on.
Hytera should be banned from doing business in North America quite soon, another Chinese army ran company.
All Chinese engineers working in US are potential spies, zero trust, those H1B visas need to include a security/intelligence background check ASAP.
sounds like your a little
sounds like your a little hypercritical
Motorola for may years has had their engineering for trbo and manufacturing performed in Malaysia using parts sourced from Asia. Most of their software is written in india and other countries. spare parts and logistics have all been outsourced. Management and legal live in USA.
Now Hytera has a product which is competing in the same market you say this…. Interesting move it china/asia locked motorola out and what your reaction would be then.
Why they don’t fill a suit
Why they don’t fill a suit against Vertex or Kenwood for “VOX”??? They do have a strong competition from Hytera. Both are good products, both works well but in Europe, Hytera tend to get a bigger and bigger share in DMR market. They are cheaper for the same quality.
Motorola own Vertex, so they
Motorola own Vertex, so they unlikely to be suing them any time soon. They have carefully selected the (limited) features they offer in the Vertex range to ensure the Motorola range remains the market leader.
Not at all – vertex has more
Not at all – vertex has more or less died while owned by motorola, it is sad to say but the current range is nothing to rave about.
Sad to see a once good engineering company go to the motorola dogs