Court Dismisses Visto Claim and Stays Injunction
December 22nd, 2006Today the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered final judgment and dismissed one of the five patent claims asserted against Seven. The Court also stayed Visto’s request for an immediate injunction on the remaining four claims pending appeal. SEVEN and its customers can continue to use and sell all of SEVEN’s products as before. No new developments are expected in this case until early 2008 when the appeals process is due to complete.
SEVEN will continue to vigorously defend its innovative products and will continue to contest the validity of Visto’s patents. SEVEN has a strong case on appeal. The United States Patent Office (PTO) is currently reexamining the validity of all three asserted patents. In a first office action, the PTO has already rejected all claims in the ’708 Patent on grounds of invalidity. While the appeal is pending, SEVEN expects the PTO to issue its final rulings on the asserted patents either rejecting Visto claims entirely or narrowing their scope, either of which will ultimately nullify the trial verdict.
In a separate and ongoing lawsuit, SEVEN countersued Visto in August of 2005 in this same court for the infringement of two of its mobile email patents which predate the Visto patents. Trial in this matter is set for June 2007.
“We are pleased with the ruling and grateful to the Court for its diligent attention to the case,” said Kent Thexton, Executive Chairman of SEVEN. “With a strong case on appeal, strong balance sheet, thriving business and our turn in the court in June we are well positioned to drive this dispute to resolution.”
