HP patently displeased with Acer

In a clash between two of the world's biggest computer companies, HP is suing Acer for patent infringement.

The complaint, filed yesterday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, seeks to prevent Acer from selling computers in the US. Both Acer and its US subsidiary, Acer America, were named in the complaint.

HP said in a statement: "HP today is taking necessary action to protect its intellectual property against unauthorised use." The patents listed in the complaint are numbers 6,501,721; 6,438,697; 6,609,211; 5,892,933; and 5,596,759. They cover technologies such as read/write optical drives, power management in laptops, and digital bus arrangement, according to copies of the patents filed with the complaint.

An Acer representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Acer is currently the fourth most popular PC company in the world, as measured by market share, but it has been growing over the last few quarters. HP leads the world in PC shipments.

Last year, HP settled a lawsuit with Gateway in which the two rivals each filed suit claiming patent infringement. An HP representative said the Acer lawsuit and patents are unrelated to the patents at issue in the Gateway case.

Tom Krazit writes for CNET News.com