The action comes in reaction to a Mitel patent infringement filing against ShoreTel at the end of June. That suit found Mitel accusing ShoreTel of infringing on four of its patents.
ShoreTel's suit comes in response to a patent infringement lawsuit filed against it by Mitel at the end of June on the eve of ShoreTel's scheduled initial public offering. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, Mitel accused ShoreTel of infringing on four of its patents.
In addition to the patent dispute, the fact that Mitel filed the claims on the eve of ShoreTel's IPO seems to have stuck in ShorteTel's craw. At the time of th suit, ShoreTel found it necessary to postpone its IPO by several days. When the IPO was filed, the intended price-per-share had dipped by $1 a share.
That dip contained approximately 10 percent of ShorteTel's IPO valuation. Not a way to ensure the peace. The $10 million claim may, in fact, be tied to the valuation dip experienced by ShoreTel as a result of the Mitel action.
As to the infringement claim itself, ShoreTel is saying that Mitel's 3300 IP Communications Platform, is infringing on a ShoreTel patent entitled "Voice Traffic Through a Firewall."