Acacia -ACTG- Adds New Defendants to Patent Litigation and Seeks Class Action Status
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Thu Dec 18 07:02:00 2003 EST
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec 18, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Acacia
Research Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTG) (Nasdaq:CBMX) announced today that
it has added 8 new adult entertainment defendants to its patent
infringement litigation, now pending in the District Court for the
Central District of California. Acacia originally sued 39 adult
entertainment companies, and prior to adding the new defendants, had
only 11 defendants remaining in the litigation.
The new Complaints, filed with the Court, seek to create a
defendant class for all adult entertainment companies that infringe
Acacia's DMT patents by transmitting pre-recorded, digital audio and
audio/video adult content via any electronic communication channel
into or from the Central District of California, or that operate at
least one interactive website where a user located in Central District
of California can exchange information with a host computer. Defendant
class action status, which must be approved by the Court, would permit
the Court's rulings on certain key issues to legally bind all members
of the class, whether or not they have been specifically named as
defendants in the litigation. This would result in a much more
efficient use of Acacia's resources, eliminating the need for certain
duplicative litigation.
Acacia has entered into 106 license agreements for its DMT
technology with companies in the hotel in-room entertainment, and
online music, movie and adult entertainment industries.
Acacia's DMT technology, which is covered by pioneering patents,
relates to audio and video transmission and receiving systems,
commonly known as audio-on-demand, video-on-demand, and audio/video
streaming, and is used for distributing digital content via several
means including Internet, cable television, satellite and wireless
systems. |
