10th Sep 2015 07:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Amphion Innovations PLC said Thursday that its subsidiary DataTern Inc received a favourable ruling from the US District Court in Massachusetts over a patent dispute.
The ruling denied two motions for summary judgement filed by MicroStrategy Inc, which sought the dismissal of DataTern's claims on the grounds of validity and infringement. The two motions argued that DataTern's '502 patent is invalid, and that MicroStrategy did not infringe on the '502 patent.
The court found that the invention covered by the '502 patent was eligible for patent protection, and denied MicroStrategy's motion seeking a determination that it did not infringe.
DataTern has been fighting several legal battles over its technology patents. Software giants SAP AG and Microsoft Corp took action against DataTern over two database patents, after DataTern accused their end-users of patent infringement, and Microsoft sought to have the patents declared invalid.
In December 2012 the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered DataTern to stop suing customers of SAP. DataTern appealed the New York ruling claiming it lacked jurisdiction, and the claim on its patents was flawed. The Court of Appeals broadly ruled in favour of its position, Amphion said last April.
As a result the case in New York was terminated, and the previously unfavourable ruling in the case of Microsoft was nullified. This means that cases in Texas, which were on hold pending the Microsoft appeal, are now expect to move ahead in the next six months. It expects to have a hearing in Texas in 2016, and said that there are now 5 defendants remaining in Texas.
"This result confirms our view that our patents have been infringed," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Morgan in a statement.
"We continue to believe that companies that are using or want to use our patented technology will wish to enter into equitable licensing agreements. Our goal remains to generate a fair and reasonable return on the very substantial investment made by DataTern and FireStar over many years in the development of this innovative technology. If we are successful, we believe that the value of the net income to DataTern should be substantially in excess of its carrying value," Morgan added.
Shares in Amphion Innovations were up 9.3% at 6.56 pence Thursday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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