CSIRO Gain Wi-Fi Permanent Injunction News

Having won a copyright infringement ruling late last year, the Australian government organisation claiming copyright to wireless technology has recently won a permanent injunction against Buffalo - creators of the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector.

The rise of Wi-Fi dates back to February 1992 when engineers for Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) came up with a solution to the problems companies were experiencing when trying to design an indoor wireless network. Having filed a patent with the Australian Patent Office later in that year, the organisation attained a similar patent with the United States Patent Office in 1996.

Seeking assurances that they would license the technology to interested parties, CSIRO agreed to the demands of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1998, shortly before the 802.11 a/b standards were ratified with 802.11 g following later in 2003. CSIRO's original patent covers the central technology behind a/g, but not b. In 2003, CSIRO contacted companies who practised the technology covered by their patent, but failed to enter into any agreements. Pushed into action, CSIRO filed a suit against Buffalo Technology Inc. and Buffalo Inc. in 2005 as a test case to determine the validity of the original patent. The subsequent ruling in their favour and agreement for a permanent injunction is likely to have wider repercussions due to the proliferation of Wi-Fi, none more so than the videogames industry which has seen online multiplayer explode with the advent of Wi-Fi.

TVG contacted lawyers acting on behalf of CSIRO to clarify what impact the ruling might have on the three hardware manufacturers, all of which offer technology that could potentially infringe upon the patent.

Without mentioning specific companies, representatives of CSIRO's legal team confirmed that the patent covers all devices that utilise 802.11 a and g standards along with the emerging draft n standard, "...including videogames".

"CSIRO remains open to any and all license proposals and hopes that this further judicial validation of its invention helps bring about a fair resolution of this matter."

All of the consoles available offer compatibility with the 802.11 b standard, which promises to murky the waters even further. TVG understands that such devices have a more complicated position, but that some of these will have incurred infringements when sold, whilst others will be determined on their usage.

Although it's unlikely Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will have to pull their products from the shelves and revert to the darkened days of dial-up (not too sure about the USB Adaptor), it does seem as though the Wi-Fi landscape is set to undergo a significant shake-up.