e.Digital Provides Update on Recent Court Ruling
August 22 2013 - 2:08PM
Marketwired
e.Digital Corporation (OTCQB: EDIG), a long
standing source of innovation and future-defining patented
technologies, today provided an update regarding the recent court
ruling on defendants' motion to apply the collateral estoppel
doctrine in e.Digital's recent string of cases to enforce its
Flash-R™ patent portfolio.
In connection with its continuing effort to bring potential
infringers in line with the Company's licensing programs, e.Digital
filed several law suits in the Federal Court in and for the
Southern District of California. Many of the defendants filed a
joint motion requesting the judge to prevent the Company from
relitigating the meaning of certain terms of the Company's US
Patent No. 5,491,774 ("the '774 patent") as defined by the judge in
the Company's 2010 Colorado litigation. The Company's law firm,
Handal & Associates, opposed the motion on various grounds, not
the least of which is that the Colorado court was unable to
consider subsequent re-examination proceedings before the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office related to the patent that resulted in
modified claim language and which would have provided guidance to
the Court as to the proper interpretation of the claims.
A hearing was held before the Hon. Judge Dana Sabraw on July 26,
2013. The judge heard the arguments of counsel for both sides and
on August 21, 2013 granted the motion. Although the ruling could
adversely impact e.Digital's efforts to establish patent
infringement of certain claims by certain defendants of the '774
patent and US Patent No. 5,839,108, the ruling has no apparent
impact on the Company's assertions of patent infringement against
the defendants under the Company's US Patent No. 5,742,737, and US
Patent No. 5,842,170 which are also asserted in the cases.
"e.Digital has asserted multiple claims arising out of different
patents in our Flash-R patent portfolio against the Defendants in
the current round of litigation," said Fred Falk, president and CEO
of e.Digital. "Our cases do not therefore rise or fall on the back
of any one patent. Handal & Associates and their technical
advisors have deemed that the Defendants infringe several of our
patents, and a finding of infringement on any one claim of any one
of them would be significant. Regardless of the ruling, the
enforcement of our patents will move forward," Falk concluded.
About e.Digital Corporation: For more than
20 years, e.Digital's ideas and inventions have impacted the
evolution of consumer products. Today, e.Digital innovations,
including its Flash-R™ portfolio of flash memory-related patents,
are essential to many portable consumer electronic products. The
Company pioneered dedicated portable in-flight entertainment
systems and more than 30 airlines have made e.Digital powered
products their in-flight entertainment choice. For more information
about e.Digital, please visit: www.edigital.com.
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