Omaha, NE - October 27, 2008 - Gabriel Technologies Corp (GWLK.PK), a homeland security company focused on serving the transportation industry, announced today the filing of a federal court lawsuit against San Diego-based technology giant Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) on behalf of Gabriel Technologies and its Trace Technologies, LLC subsidiary.
According to the strongly-worded lawsuit, Qualcomm and its subsidiary, SnapTrack Inc., wrongly appropriated valuable intellectual property that was developed as part of a joint development agreement with Locate Networks, Inc. Rights under the joint development agreement were acquired by Trace. The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego Division.
The complaint, which seeks over $1 billion in damages, accuses Qualcomm of procuring more than 90 separate patents by falsely claiming ownership and failing to notify Gabriel Technologies about its secret activities. Norman Krasner, SnapTrack’s then vice-president of technology, also is named as a defendant.
“We look forward to providing the court with evidence of Qualcomm’s wrongdoing in this case,†said Ronald E. Gillum, Jr., President of Gabriel Technologies. “We intend to vigorously prosecute this misappropriation of our valuable intellectual property.â€
The disputed technology involves significant refinements and enhancements to what is commonly known as “assisted GPS.†Assisted GPS allows global positioning technology to be integrated into mobile devices, enabling a wide-variety of wireless services such as driving directions, identifying closest restaurants or banks, and tracking of assets or individuals for safety or in emergency situations.
According to the complaint, Krasner and SnapTrack began taking and unlawfully patenting Locate’s technology, motivated by a desire to add to SnapTrack’s patent portfolio in hopes of enticing an acquisition by a larger company such as Qualcomm. In 2000, Qualcomm purchased SnapTrack for $1 billion in stock. The lawsuit states that Krasner and his wife received 300,000 shares of Qualcomm stock.
Gabriel Technologies is asking the court to declare that the company owns the contested technology and related patents and other intellectual property. The lawsuit includes claims against SnapTrack for breach of the joint development agreement. Also, defendants are accused of fraud, misappropriation, unfair competition and patent infringement.
Gabriel Technologies is being represented by Munck Carter, a Texas-based trial, transactions and technology law firm.
To interview attorney William Munck about the Gabriel Technologies lawsuit, please contact Mike Androvett at 214.559.4630, toll free 800.559.4534, cell 214.507.5456 or e-mail mike@androvett.com. Download the complaint PDF (1.7MB)
About Gabriel Technologies Gabriel Technologies Corporation is a publicly traded corporation focused on two rapidly growing segments of the homeland security market - asset tracking and physical security. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gabriel Technologies, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company, the company designs, develops, manufactures and sells a series of physical locking systems for the transportation and shipping industries collectively known as the War-Lok™ security system. Security has evolved substantially in recent years due to increased risks from theft and terrorism. With the implementation of the award-winning War-Lok™, Gabriel Technologies provides cost-efficient security measures to prevent national and global theft and homeland security issues. The Company’s other wholly-owned subsidiary, Trace Technologies, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, was formed to develop location based services to enable customers to track assets and personnel worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.gabrieltechnologies.com.
