SUFFERN, NY, September 20, 2005 - General Patent Corporation (GPC) announced an important victory in its patent enforcement campaign on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Acticon Technologies LLC (Acticon). The reexamination of three of Acticon's patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO) upheld the validity of all of the claims of all three patents.
The reexamination proceedings at the USPTO were initiated by Askey Corporation (Askey) in response to a patent infringement law suit brought by Acticon against Askey. Reexamination was requested for three of Acticon's patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface"), 4,686,506 ("Multiple Connector Interface") and 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector"). The Patent Office disagreed with the applicant's arguments alleging that these patents were invalid in view of the prior art.
During the reexamination of the '470 Patent, approximately 120 U.S. patents, 10 foreign patents, and 34 non-patent publications were brought to the attention of the Patent Office, which nevertheless found that the "volumes of prior art cited by the requester have been reviewed in detail. However, the examiner does not agree with any of the proposed anticipation/obviousness conclusions drawn by the requestor."
Acticon's patents cover specific aspects of "smart connector" devices used in mobile computer communication, networking, and instrumentation control. GPC has successfully represented Acticon in 22 litigations related to these patents, and has obtained to date 133 licenses and settlements under the patents.
"We were confident from the outset of these proceedings that the inventions embodied in these patents would be found to have been patentable, and that the claims of the patents would be preserved," said Paul Lerner, GPC's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "The question of the validity of these patents has now been put to rest."
About Acticon Technologies LLC
Acticon Technologies LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Patent Corporation, is a computer connectivity and communications technology company based in Suffern, NY. Acticon's award-winning smart connector technology is based on U.S. Patent Nos. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface") (now expired), 4,686,506 ("Multiple Connector Interface") (now expired), 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector"), and 4,543,450 ("Integrated Connector and Modem") (now expired). Acticon Technologies offers non-exclusive licenses under the '470 patent on attractive terms. For licensing terms, contact Kathlene Ingham at (845) 368- 4000, x107. For more information visit www.acticontech.com.