International Trade Commission Votes to Institute Investigation of SiRF

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The International Trade Commission has instituted a patent infringement investigation against SiRF Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:SIRF) and four of its customers: E-TEN Corporation (“E-TEN”), Pharos Science & Applications, Inc. (“Pharos”), MiTAC International Corporation (“MiTAC”), and Mio Technology Limited, USA (“Mio”). according to Global Locate, Inc. The investigation was instituted on the basis of a Complaint filed with the ITC by Global Locate, Inc. against SiRF and the four customers. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States of certain GPS devices and products that infringe patents owned by Global Locate. The complainant requests that the ITC issue a permanent exclusion order and permanent cease and desist orders. Administrative Law Judge Robert L. Barton, Jr. will preside over the investigation.


The ITC will investigate allegations that certain SiRF GPS devices, and certain products of E-TEN, Pharos, MiTAC, Mio and other SiRF customers containing SiRF’s GPS devices, infringe six (6) Global Locate patents concerning GPS devices and methods and systems for using such devices. Global Locate patents 6,651,000 and 7,158,080 relate to Global Locate’s Long Term Orbit (LTO) technology. Global Locate patents 6,417,801, 6,937,187 and 6,704,651 relate to algorithms for achieving fast fixes using only coarse time assistance and for enhancing receiver sensitivity. Global Locate patent 6,606,346 relates to an architecture for efficient parallel correlation in a GPS receiver.