In return, Poway, California-based Gateway appears to be contemplating counter action based on its own patent portfolio.

According to the suit filed in the Southern California District Court, HP says Gateway has infringed six patents it owns. These cover a range of desktop and notebook PC technologies, including keyboard password technology, power management and the one inch notebook. The patents were originally filed by Compaq Computer, which was taken over by HP in 2002.

Joe Beyers, vice president for intellectual property licensing at HP, said that Gateway had had a license agreement with Compaq covering the six patents, amongst others, but that this expired in 1999. Despite HP’s efforts to renew the deal, the companies had failed to come to an agreement, he said.

Beyers added that cut price PC vendor eMachines had previously been sued by Compaq for infringing the patents, and had subsequently taken a license for the technologies. Following Gateway’s acquisition of eMachines this year, HP contacted the Poway-based firm to discuss the transition of the e-machines deal.

They weren’t willing to address our concerns, said Beyers, and so HP terminated the eMachines agreement.

Beyers said the company had already reached agreements covering the technologies at issue with other PC firms, and that others were in the pipeline.

Some of the patents might at first glance seem to be pretty broad. However, Beyers said that HP, and Compaq, had done some fairly fundamental work in developing the PC platform.

He added that HP’s patents were quite specific as to what the firm was claiming, and also said that the patents had been validated in the court case with eMachines.

A spokesman for Gateway said the firm would not comment on the details of the suit, except to say the firm would defend it vigorously.

However, he added that both companies had significant patent portfolios in the field of computer technology, and Gateway felt it was premature of HP to take action.

Asked if this amounted to a threat to countersue, the spokesman said, That’s speculation.

The suits come less than three months after HP disclosed it had set up an Intellectual Property Licensing Group, to more forcefully administer the vendor’s patent portfolio.

At the time, the firm said one of the group’s aims would be to identify HP technologies which are being used by other companies without a license. It said it would resort to litigation, if necessary.

HP is asking for an injunction against Gateway products which infringe its patents, and for damages, including punitive damages.

The patents HP claim have been infringed by Gateway include: 4,942,606 Computer with Improved Keyboard Password Functions; 5,570,107, Circuitry and Method for High Visibility Cursor Generation in a Graphics Display; 6,125,031 Plastic Computer Housing/Access Door Apparaturs with Integrally Molded Dual Function Hinge Assembly; 6,609,211. Two other patents, 6,307,740 B1 and 6,426m871 B2, are both titled One Inch Notebook Computer.

This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire