This was on My Yahoo page under software headlines.Monday December 23 12:10 PM EDT
E-data's landmark electronic distribution patent lawsuit moves forward
SECAUCUS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 23, 1996--In a court hearing held on Dec. 20, E-Data Corp received a ruling that moves its landmark patent infringement case closer
towards a decision.
Subsequent to the hearing, Judge Barbara Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order for the 13 remaining defendants to file their motions by
April 21, 1997 after conducting legal discovery as to their specific interpretations of the relevant claims in E-data's patent. E-data then is to respond to those motions by May 21, 1997
with defendants' reply papers filed by June 4, 1997. E-data has already filed its extensive report on claim interpretation and specificity of infringement charges against each defendant.
E-data patent counsel David Fink said, "We are pleased with the Judge's ruling and with the procedures in moving towards her decision on legal interpretation of the patent's claims. This
process will provide a clear delineation of the items of contention for Judge Jones. A trial to decide those issues will follow shortly afterwards."
E-data filed its New York case on Aug. 24, 1995 alleging that the 18 named defendants were infringing on its U.S. Patent No. 4,58,643 entitled "System for Reproducing Information in
Material Objects at a Point of Sale Location." The remaining defendants are Apogee Software Ltd.; Broderbund Software Inc ; CompuServe Corp ; CyberSource Corp.; Internet
Shopping Network, a subsidiary of Home Shopping Network Inc ; Intuit Inc ; The Library Corporation; The McGraw-Hill Inc ; Soft & Net Distribution S.A.; Softlock Inc.; Telebase
Systems Inc., a subsidiary of N2K Inc.; Waldenbooks and Ziff-Davis Publishing Corp. Five other original defendants have settled.
E-data has also filed a suit for patent infringement in the Federal Court in the District of Connecticut on March 22, 1996 against 21 original defendants. Fink stated that progress is being
made in that case in which there are 12 remaining defendants. E-data's report on claim interpretation and specific infringement charges is due at the beginning of January 1997.
The E-data suits are considered landmarks in the emerging law of electronic commerce and are being closely followed by the rapidly growing digital distribution industry. The E-data
patent relates to most pay-as-you-go electronic transactions involving the purchase and delivery of products composed of digital data including software, information, fonts, images and
music. Among E-data's 18 licensees are IBM, Adobe and VocalTec.
E-data President Arnold Freilich indicated that the company was very pleased with the latest legal activity. He said: "Our desire is that we move as quickly as possible towards an
adjudication that clearly spells out infringement by our present defendants and the many companies that we have placed on legal notice as well as others entering the industry. Those
companies should be paying licensing fees to E-data without any of the parties having to incur unnecessary legal costs. We look forward to the day that E-data's patent and Dr. Freeny,
its inventor, receive their deserved recognition."
CONTACT: E-data Corp.
Arnold L. Freilich, 201/866-8456
alfco@e-data.com
or
David Fink, Esq. (legal), 203/325-3344
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