One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Hit With Patent Infringement Suit

Natick, MA (AHN) - A hardware company is suing the One Laptop Per Child project, claiming in a lawsuit filed in Nigeria that the group reverse-engineered a keyboard designed for foreign languages.

In its lawsuit, Massachusetts-based Lagos Analysis Corp is asking the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria to reward "substantial" damages against the OLPC Association and bar future sales of the organization's XO laptop.

Lagos, also known as Lancor, holds a Nigerian patent to its Konyin Multilingual Keyboard. CEO AdeŽ Oyegbola argued the OLPC organization ordered the keyboard and then used the technology in the XO laptop keyboard.

Oyegbola told the AP he hopes the OLPC Association "come to their senses" and reach a settlement before the Nigerian court acts. The company will also file a U.S. patent infringement lawsuit if the OLPC organization won't settle.

For its part, the OLPC said it only uses technology it owns or licenses.

The OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte to provide an inexpensive laptop computer to children in developing countries.