Orange's SPV phone unexpectedly beat Sendo to market

Sendo had claimed Orange's SPV smart phone, launched last November, infringed a patent it had been granted relating to the design of the circuit board within the phone.

The mobile phone maker said it had "created intellectual property rights" within the mobile phone sector.

But the controversial patent that was the subject of Sendo's action is believed to be included in a licensing deal with Texas Instruments (TI), making pursuing Orange pointless.

"Texas Instruments...has entered into a patent licensing agreement with Sendo related to smart phone technology," said Sendo on its website.

TI also delivers chips for Orange's SPV handset.

Smart move

Sendo said it would contribute to Orange's legal costs but both sides said in short statements that "The terms of the settlement are to remain confidential".

Orange's SPV phone is partly based on Microsoft software.

Sendo had launched the lawsuit against Orange last month after it had started separate legal proceedings against Microsoft in December.

An attempt to form a partnership between Sendo and Microsoft to jointly develop multimedia mobile devices came to an abrupt end after Sendo accused Microsoft of stealing its technology and giving it to other partners.

Orange had unexpectedly beaten Sendo to market with the first phone based on Microsoft technology.