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TRW Inc. last week ended months of speculation about whether it would move to enforce its patents on the proposed Odyssey medium-Earth- orbit (MEO) satellite-based global phone system it is developing with Canada's Teleglobe Inc.
The firm filed suit against London-based ICO Global Communications Ltd. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeking an injunction to halt ICO's development of its own satellite communications system.
Officials at TRW said in a statement that ICO's plans for a MEO- based phone system infringe on a U.S. patent TRW holds for the concept. TRW Executive Vice President and General Counsel Martin Coyle said ICO--spun off by London-based Inmarsat but still connected to the international mobile satellite organization--has "ignored TRW's privately transmitted and publicly stated concerns about infringement."
The patent (No. 5,433,726) "protects TRW's invention of a global, medium-Earth-orbit-based satellite cellular phone system," including the low-power pocket telephones and terrestrial gateways that are part of the $3 billion Odyssey system, they said; a second patent (No. 5,439,190) covers a method of "`directed coverage' which could be employed by communications satellites," according to TRW. Both patents were issued during the summer of 1995....The Suit Could Have Far-reaching Effects on the Satellite Industry If the injunction is upheld, it could have far-reaching effects on the global satellite industry, especially...