TRA - WPP/Kantar Mediation Ends With No Resolution

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TRA and WPP's Court-ordered mediation has ended without resolution following the denial of the motion for preliminary injunction by the Federal Court in Manhattan. The case now proceeds with TRA's request for a permanent injunction and damages for patent infringement of TRA's patent – the ownership of which is not in dispute – "Analyzing Return on Investment of Advertising Campaigns by Matching Multiple Data Sources" (U.S. Patent No. 7,729,940).

While no resolution was reached, WPP confirmed in recent Court-filed papers about the patent that Kantar's RapidView system is based upon 6-year old technology and does not produce ROI reports. Also, its sample sizes are about the same as older unsuccessful attempts at single source.

Separate from TRA's patent infringement claim, there are other outstanding causes of action asserted by TRA which the Court has yet to consider. This includes whether WPP and Kantar business units improperly used any of the hundreds of confidentially disclosed TRA trade secret documents during the time that WPP/Kantar was developing RapidView.  

Mark Lieberman, Chairman and CEO of TRA, Inc. said, "TRA's innovations have distanced our software technology from the competition by matching multiple large data sources, such as set-top-box data and frequent shopper data, to produce a more complete media planning and selling solution as well as ROI metrics, all based on actual purchaser behavior. This is a solution we pioneered and one that was publicly lauded by senior executives at WPP when they invested in TRA."

TRA currently has more than 45 CPG and pharma brands, a number of major networks and agencies using its unique solutions, and has successfully expanded its relationships with industry-leading partners to deepen the company's robust offering. Last month the U.S. Patent Office validated TRA's solution by granting TRA its second major patent entitled "Using Consumer Purchase Behavior for Television Targeting," U.S. Patent No. 8,000,993. TRA is the only media measurement company that is ISO 27001 certified – the highest level of information security available.

About TRA, Inc.

TRA, Inc. (www.traglobal.com) is a media marketing and analytics software company whose products help advertisers, agencies and television networks improve advertising targeting, accountability and return on media investment. TRA's Media TRAnalytics® is a web-based platform that matches the TV advertising households actually receive with the products the same households actually buy, enabling TRA's clients to find "The Right Audience®" while providing an unmatched level of transparency, measurement, media planning/selling and improved ROI. Licensed users of Media TRAnalytics® include 4 of the top 10 advertisers, 45 of the top 100 brands, as well as the top agencies and networks. TRA's investors include Intel Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners, WPP and Arbitron. TRA is the recipient of the BeyeNETWORK's 2009 Vision Award for Business Impact in Analytics. TRA is certified under ISO 27001, the information security management system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) designed to ensure security controls for protecting information assets. TRA owns U.S. Patent No. 7,729,940, entitled "Analyzing Return on Investment of Advertising Campaigns by Matching Multiple Data Sources" and U.S. Patent No. 8,000,993, entitled "Using Consumer Purchase Behavior for Television Targeting."

Contact for TRA, Inc.
Kyle Giunta
MediaLink
646-259-3006
[email protected]

SOURCE TRA, Inc.