USPTO Cancels Claims for Competitor's Mobile Application Patent, Awards Inventions to Icontrol Networks

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Icontrol Networks, the company behind the most widely-distributed interactive security and home automation platform in the industry, today announced the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Judgment cancelling claims 1-7, 10, 13, 21-27, 30, 33, 41-47, 50, and 53 of U.S. Patent No. 8,350,694 ("the '694 patent"), and awarding to Icontrol priority to the subject matter covered by the cancelled claims. As a result of this Judgment, the USPTO has issued to Icontrol new U.S. Patent No. 9,141,276, with claims to the invention covered by the canceled claims of the '694 patent. This ruling validates Icontrol's 2005 and 2007 claims that the technologies described in Patent No. 8,350,694 awarded to a competitor were in fact invented by Icontrol.

Icontrol's new Patent No. 9,141,276 covers methods and systems for interacting and synchronizing with home security and automation systems using mobile applications. It also represents fundamental art relating to the use of a mobile application to control and present information from connected devices. 

"Recognition of Icontrol as the inventor of this key mobile application technology for home control is a testament to the strength of our intellectual property," stated Richard Mosher, Icontrol's General Counsel. "Early investments in developing our intellectual property portfolio have resulted in some of the earliest patent awards for cloud- and mobile-connected home solutions. This is just one of ten patents Icontrol has been awarded in 2015 alone, and we look forward to continuing the momentum as we strengthen and grow our patent portfolio."

The USPTO Trial Board determined that Icontrol had disclosed and supported the invention embodied in the '694 patent in a filing with the USPTO more than five years before the '694 patent filing. Icontrol's priority to this subject matter was uncontested by the '694 patent holder. 

"When Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) created their 2008 'iFund' for companies leading innovation on the iPhone app platform – at the time a new concept – Icontrol was one of their first phone calls," said Bob Hagerty, CEO of Icontrol. "We focused on delivering home automation and remote control for mobile and cloud long before they were technology buzzwords, and we're happy to see the USPTO recognizes our early leadership."

About Icontrol Networks

Icontrol Networks' vision is to provide a connected home solution for every household, so people worldwide spend less time managing their lives and more time living them. Icontrol is making the connected home a reality through its software platforms which are deployed by service providers and home security companies of all sizes, and the all-in-one Piper smart home security system for consumers. Icontrol is further pioneering the next generation of connected living through its OpenHome™ Developer Program, the first community for application and device makers to partner on a common platform. Venture investors in Icontrol include the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers iFund, Charles River Ventures, and Intel Capital, with strategic investments from a variety of service providers including ADT, Comcast Ventures, Comporium and Rogers Communications. For more information about Icontrol Networks, Icontrol One (for independent service providers) and Piper visit icontrol.com, icontrolone.com and getpiper.com. For the most recent Icontrol research on the smart home industry, visit www.stateofthesmarthome.com.

SOURCE Icontrol Networks

Related Links

http://icontrol.com