Prysmian, Emtelle settle FTTP patent dispute

By STEPHEN HARDY -- Prysmian Group and its UK Prysmian Cables & Systems Ltd. subsidiary say they have settled a patent infringement suit brought against fiber to the premises infrastructure technology provider Emtelle UK Ltd.

Prysmian says that Emtelle has admitted that certain of its FibreFlow Minicable products infringed on one or more of the patents at issue.

Prysmian brought suit against Emtelle in the High Court of England and Wales last November, charging that Emtelle’s FibreFlow Minicables infringed the UK designations of Prysmian’s European Patents EP (UK) 1,420,279 B1 and EP (UK) 1,668,392B1.

The latter patent covers telecommunication optical cables, and in particular to a telecommunication optical cable with a highly reduced diameter. The other patent also relates to telecommunication fiber-optic cables, particularly of what Prysmian described as “an optimized stranded optical cable design.”

With Emtelle’s concession, the two parties reached an agreement to settle the suit on May 28, 2021. The agreement sees Emtelle taking a royalty-bearing license under the two patents as well as a third, EP 2,390,700 B1, and their international patent families.

Emtelle also has entered a supply agreement with Prysmian which will enable Emtelle to offer Prysmian products “in certain countries,” including at least some in Europe and North America.

“We are pleased to see this lawsuit come to an end. Emtelle respects intellectual property rights, and we feel the mutual agreement reached between Emtelle and Prysmian will work in favor of both parties. We will now focus exclusively on what we do best, providing end-to-end fiber cabling and ducted network solutions,” commented Tony Rodgers, CEO at Emtelle.

“The Prysmian Group is committed to the supply and promotion of innovative products as a key component for future-proof sustainable broadband networks. The Group has undertaken intense R&D activities and major investments over the years, and its telecom cables can now boast the industry record for fiber count and density, with many innovative patents filed in the field of optical cables and related technologies,” added Philippe Vanhille, executive vice president, Telecom Business at Prysmian Group. “For this reason, we are more and more attentive to protecting our technology and investment against any unauthorized use of our patents.”

STEPHEN HARDY is Editorial Director and Associate Publisher of CI&M's close co-brand in Endeavor Business Media, Lightwave.