Schneider settles patent infringement lawsuit against Opto 22

Staff -- Control Engineering, 7/1/2003

Palatine, IL; Temecula, CA—Schneider Electric reported May 29 that it has settled out of court its patent infringement lawsuit against Opto 22.

"Schneider Automation, Square D, and Opto 22 announce the settlement of their patent lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, " said Schneider's lawyers, in what was reported to be a mutually agreed on statement. "The lawsuit concerned four patents owned by Schneider Automation Inc. in the area of Web-enabled controllers. The lawsuit was filed in February 2001 and was scheduled for trial starting July 1, 2003. Terms of the settlement and license are confidential." Schneider had no further comment.

Schneider filed its lawsuit Feb. 26, 2001, alleging that Opto 22's Ethernet Brain products and associated industrial automation systems infringed on Schneider's patents covering Web- and network-accessed controllers.