3 okt. 2024

Barco enforces its ClickShare IP against Yealink before the Unified Patent Court

Kortrijk, Belgium, October 3, 2024 – Barco, a global leader in meeting room technology, asked the European Unified Patent Court (UPC) to prohibit Yealink to further make, sell and distribute its wireless conferencing solutions. The UPC is a new, specialist court before which a unitary patent can be enforced in all its contracting member states. These legal proceedings in Europe complement the patent infringement lawsuit filed against Yealink in the United States in November 2023, resulting in Yealink admitting the infringement of ClickShare IP and withdrawing their WPP30 Presentation Pod from the US market.

For more than 12 years, Barco has built a strong patent portfolio to protect its innovative wireless collaboration solutions. In June 2024, the ClickShare IP portfolio reached an important milestone with the addition of the first unitary patent immediately enforceable in 17 EU member states. ClickShare’s innovation in wireless presentation and conferencing is now protected by more than 110 patents in major jurisdictions.

Barco believes that Yealink infringes some of ClickShare Conference’s patented functionalities, that enable users to host video calls from their own laptop with their preferred video conferencing platforms, while using the audio and video equipment of the meeting room for a premium wireless Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) experience.

“Since its establishment 90 years ago, Barco has constantly innovated to create a better, smarter and healthier world,” said Kurt Verheggen, General Counsel at Barco. “Over the years, we’ve built a solid reputation of vigorously defending our IP against companies copying our break-through technologies. With the creation of the UPC in 2023, we can now enforce a patent in its contracting member states and deter copy-cats with an effective legal remedy, just like in the US.”

“Barco has always adhered to its core values of delivering easy-to-use and secure meeting room solutions,” said Jan van Houtte, EVP Meeting Experience at Barco. “Since its launch in 2012, ClickShare has continuously invested in innovation and support for its global customer base. With a solid local pre- and post-sales service, we operate closely to the customers, identify their needs and requirements, leading to a steady flow of new innovative concepts and ideas that we carefully protect.”

About Barco

Barco, headquartered in Kortrijk (Belgium), is a global company leading in visualization, networking, and collaboration technology. Its innovative solutions drive advancements in the healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment markets. At the heart of Barco’s success are over 3,000 dedicated ‘visioneers’, each passionately contributing to driving change through technology.

Listed on Euronext (BAR), Reuters (BARBt.BR), and Bloomberg (BAR BB), Barco realized sales of 1,050 million euro in 2023. For further insights, please visit www.barco.com or connect on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.

Barco. Visioneering a bright tomorrow. © 2024

Press contacts

Yannic Laleeuwe

Yannic Laleeuwe

Marketing Director, Meeting Experience

+32 473 869453 [email protected]