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The plaintiff in this case, privately-owned company SPH America is suing the companies claiming three of its patents were violated.

According to reports, SPH is seeking "unspecified damages and an order barring the companies from selling the phones", plus a tripling of awarded damages because the defendants' actions were, in its own words "wilful".

Kyocera, the maker of phones for Verizon Communications, is claimed to have infringed the patents with the Verizon XV6700, XV6800, XV6900 and SMT5800 phones.

On top of that, SPH claims that Kyocera's K320, K325 and M1000 wireless communications devices and Sony Ericsson's Z750a also violate its patents.

SPH says it "licensed the patents from the Electronics Telecommunications Research Institute, which is funded by the South Korean government".

The court case continues and a ruling is expected later on this year.