Nuance Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Tellme Networks, Inc.
biz.yahoo.com
Friday February 17, 9:02 am ET
Nuance Patents Cover 'Whisper' Technologies and Innovative Database Search Techniques in Directory Assistance and Call Center Applications
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2006--Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), the world's leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, and Phonetic Systems, Ltd., Nuance's wholly-owned subsidiary, today announced that they have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tellme Networks, Inc. in the United States District Court in Delaware.
In their complaint, Nuance and Phonetic Systems assert that Tellme infringes their patents covering valuable features of directory assistance and call center applications, including pioneering "whisper" technologies and advanced database query techniques. In the patent infringement suit, Nuance and Phonetic Systems seek monetary damages for Tellme's infringement as well as injunctive relief to prevent Tellme from continuing to infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,033,088, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Effectively Receiving Voice Input to a Voice Recognition System," and U.S. Patent No. 6,256,630, entitled "Word-Containing Database Accessing System for Responding to Ambiguous Queries, Including a Dictionary of Database Words, a Dictionary Searcher and a Database Searcher."
"Over time, Nuance has invested significant resources in developing technologies and building an intellectual property portfolio that are important components of our strategy and integral to the success of our business," said Jo-Anne Sinclair, vice president and general counsel, at Nuance. "Our IP and technological assets favorably differentiate our directory assistance and call center solutions from other offerings. Nuance values its intellectual property and intends to diligently and vigorously protect its patent rights and prevent infringing use by others."
Nuance holds more than 400 issued and pending patents worldwide in the fields of speech and imaging technologies and has made significant investments in research, development and the acquisition of intellectual property to provide its customers with unique, best-of-breed solutions. The company will continue to drive innovation through the patenting of proprietary technologies. |
