Business Unit News
Federal Appellate Court Affirms Dow Jones' Win in Patent Case Over Online Technology Rights
NEW YORK, June 1, 2010 – Dow Jones and Company has
successfully brought an end to unjustified licensing demands by
Ablaise Ltd. for two of its patents.
In 2006, Ablaise threatened to sue unless Dow Jones paid for
what Ablaise claimed was its exclusive, patented technology for
personalizing content on Web sites. In response, Dow Jones filed
suit against Ablaise in federal district court in Washington
D.C., claiming that Ablaise's patents were invalid.
In July of 2009, the district court sided with Dow Jones, ruling
that because Ablaise's "inventions" were obvious or anticipated
by existing technology, both patents were invalid.
In its decision issued today, the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit affirms the invalidity of one of Ablaise's
patents. As to the second, the appeals court says that the
district court could not have made any determination as to that
patent – invalid or otherwise – because Ablaise had, faced with
the evidence uncovered by Dow Jones, already covenanted not to
sue Dow Jones for any claims based on that patent prior to the
district court's decision.
"This is a complete victory for Dow Jones," said Mark H.
Jackson, general counsel of Dow Jones and Company. "The end
result is that Ablaise cannot continue to pursue Dow Jones for
providing personalized content on our Web sites. Dow Jones will
not be bullied into coercive licensing schemes that are based
not on the novelty of the technology but the costs of
litigation."
Steven Lieberman, Sharon Davis and Brian Rosenbloom of Rothwell,
Figg, Ernst & Manbeck represented Dow Jones in the matter.
About Dow Jones
Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com)
is a News Corporation company (Nasdaq:NWS) (Nasdaq:NWSA);
(ASX:NWS), (ASX:NWSLV) (www.newscorp.com)
and a leading provider of global news and business information.
Its principal products include The Wall Street Journal, Dow
Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Factiva, Barron's, MarketWatch and
Dow Jones Indexes. Its Local Media Group operates
community-based newspapers and Web sites. Dow Jones also
provides news content to television and radio stations.
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Contact:
Dow Jones & Company
Danielle Rhoades
(212) 416-4963
Danielle.Rhoades@dowjones.com