University of Minnesota sues four wireless service carriers

The University of Minnesota is suing the four largest wireless service providers in the United States, saying they are infringing on several university patents.

In the suit filed in US District Court in Minnesota, the university says Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are illegally using technology developed by a university professor that improves the speed and reliability of 4G LTE service. The university is asking the companies to pay a royalty for using the technology. The university said the technology involves five patents that cover wireless communications innovations developed by professor Georgios Giannakis and his co-inventors. The technology is part of the 4G LTE service that all four companies use.