Amphion Innovations PLC DataTern Receives Favourable Ruling (6113Y)
September 10 2015 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAMP
RNS Number : 6113Y
Amphion Innovations PLC
10 September 2015
Amphion Innovations plc
Subsidiary Company DataTern Receives Favourable Ruling
London and New York, 10 September 2015 - Amphion Innovations plc
(LSE: AMP) ("Amphion" or the "Company"), the developer of medical,
life science and technology businesses, announces today that
DataTern Inc. ("DataTern"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
Company, has received a favourable ruling by the U.S. District
Court in Massachusetts (the "Court"), which denied two motions for
summary judgment filed by MicroStrategy Inc. ("MicroStrategy")
seeking dismissal of DataTern's claims on the grounds of validity
and infringement. In May of this year, there was a hearing on the
two motions: one motion argued that DataTern's '502 patent is
invalid under section 101 of the United States Patent Act, and the
second argued that MicroStrategy did not infringe the '502
patent.
The Court found that the '502 patent solved a specific problem
in computing using an inventive concept and concluded that the
invention was eligible for patent protection under the U.S. Supreme
Court's most recent precedent. On the second motion, concerning the
issue of infringement, the Court denied MicroStrategy's motion
seeking a determination that it did not infringe because its
Business Platform did not use an "object model", leaving the door
open to revisit related issues in the future.
Previously, in late December 2014, DataTern received a ruling
from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ("FCCA") of its appeal in
the MicroStrategy case that the Company's legal advisers considered
to be clearly favourable.
MicroStrategy sells business intelligence and analytics software
platforms used by other defendants. There are 7 defendants in the
MicroStrategy case.
In a separate but related case, in April 2014, DataTern received
a ruling from the FCCA of the appeal filed in relation to the
Microsoft declaratory judgment motion heard earlier in New York,
which its legal advisers considered favourable. In July 2014, the
ruling received in April became final. As a result, the case in New
York was terminated, with the result that the previously
unfavourable Markman ruling of August 2012 was, in the case of
Microsoft, nullified.
The cases in Texas, which were on hold pending the Microsoft
appeal, are now expected to move ahead in the next six months and
the Company's Board expects to have a Markman hearing in Texas in
2016. Following some settlements and dismissals there are now 5
defendants remaining in Texas.
The Company's legal team, supported by the Company's extensive
team of technical and patent experts, continues to believe in the
strength of its intellectual property. Both of DataTern's key
patents have completed a comprehensive re-examination by the United
States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and successfully
emerged both fully validated and with additional claims added. It
remains the firm and considered opinion of the Company's team that
the two patents are both valid and being infringed by a wide range
of companies that are practicing this critical art. The Board
believes that a Claim Construction ruling, which is fully
reflective of its interpretation of the claims of the patents,
would establish significant infringement by a large number of
companies and it believes that DataTern should be able to generate
a significant amount of revenue from this asset over the next few
years.
Under the revenue sharing agreement with DataTern, Amphion
Partner Company FireStar Software Inc. (where the technology and
patents were originally developed) would share directly in the
revenue stream.
Richard Morgan, CEO of Amphion, said: "This result confirms our
view that our patents have been infringed. The '502 patent and the
'402 patent are directed to how object oriented software
applications access data stored in relational databases. Such
applications are widely used and most databases in use today are
relational databases. 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."
For More Information:
Amphion Innovations
Charlie Morgan
+1 212 210 6224
Yellow Jersey PR
Charles Goodwin / Dominic Barretto
+44 (0)7747 788 221
Panmure Gordon Limited (Nominated Adviser and Corporate
Broker)
Freddy Crossley / Duncan Monteith (Corporate Finance)
Charlie Leigh-Pemberton (Corporate Broking)
+44 (0)20 7886 2500
Northland Capital Partners Limited (Joint Corporate Broker)
Patrick Claridge / David Hignell (Corporate Finance)
John Howes / Mark Treharne (Corporate Broking)
+44 (0)20 7382 1100
Plumtree Capital Limited (Financial Adviser)
Stephen Austin
+44 (0)20 7183 2493
+646 568 7502
About Amphion Innovations plc
Amphion Innovations is a developer of medical, life science and
technology businesses. We use our extensive experience in company
building to invest and build shareholder value in high growth
companies in the US and UK. Amphion has significant shareholding in
7 Partner Companies developing proven technologies targeting
substantial commercial marketplaces. The Amphion model has been
refined to optimise the commercialisation of patents and other
intellectual property within the Partner Companies. The Partner
Companies collectively own or control over 200 separately
identified pieces of intellectual property, a number which grows
rapidly each year.
On the web: www.amphionplc.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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