OREM, Utah, Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Jive Communications, Inc., a leading Hosted VoIP and Unified Communications provider, announced today its courtroom win over Telinit Technologies, LLC., a company that has sued more than 30 VoIP providers.
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In early 2014, Telinit sued Jive in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (consol. case no 2:14-CV-369) for allegedly infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,192,123 (the "'123 Patent"). The next day, Telinit's patent licensing agent sent Jive a letter offering to settle the lawsuit for a confidential amount.
Jive declined Telinit's repeated offers to settle and determined to follow the example of troll-fighting companies like Overstock, Newegg, and CarShield. "We decided to fight," said John Pope, CEO of Jive Communications. "The goal was not only to avoid paying off this patent troll, but to also draw a line in the sand. We wanted to send a message that Jive won't negotiate with patent trolls or pay their extortionate demands."
Initially, Jive asked other defendants of similar Telinit lawsuits to join a defense group, but none were willing to risk the costs of a lawsuit. Despite this, Jive filed a motion to invalidate Telinit's patent in early 2015. Relying on recent Supreme Court precedent, Jive argued that the '123 Patent didn't illustrate any inventive concept. U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III agreed and found the '123 Patent invalid.
"Taking an otherwise abstract idea and applying it to the Internet does not transform the claim into patentable subjection matter . . . [and this patent claims] tasks that human beings, such as telephone operators, have been doing for the past century," Judge Schroeder wrote in his opinion.
"This is a great day for Jive," said Benjamin King, General Counsel for Jive Communications. "Patent trolls are a scourge that cost the U.S. economy more than $80 billion a year in deadweight costs. Not only did Telinit walk away empty-handed, but the court took its patent away. We believe in intellectual property rights, but we're committed to the fight against patent trolls and their frivolous lawsuits. Invalidating this patent is a win for Jive, a win for our customers, and a win for the industry."
About Jive Communications
Jive Communications provides enterprise-grade Hosted VoIP and Unified Communications to businesses and institutions. Jive's hosted services run on Jive Cloud, a cloud-based platform built on open industry standards. Jive is the recipient of many industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award. The Jive Cloud architecture has been purpose-built to deliver the most reliable, powerful, and economical hosted communication services available to the enterprise market. Learn more at jive.com/tour.
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Matt Peterson
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SOURCE Jive Communications, Inc.
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