A federal court judge in the U.S. has dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit brought forward by Digitech Image Technologies against EFI and dozens of other defendants, including Apple. The patent, number 6,128,415, is for “Device profiles for use in a digital image processing system” and was originally assigned to Polaroid in 2000.
“We are pleased that the court invalidated the patent, but it was clear this case should never have been filed,” said EFI General Counsel Bryan Ko. “It is yet another illustration of how patent trolls are clogging the judicial system and wasting public resources. Until the system changes, however, EFI won’t be bullied into settling these abusive lawsuits.”
According to EFI, the court invalidated the patent, saying that even Digitech’s most “creative arguments” could not “salvage an unpatentable principle and transform it into a patentable process” and that asserted claims are “intangible, possess no meaningful non-abstract limitations, and are therefore ineligible for patent protection.”
Digitech was able to extract settlements from a number of parties, including Panasonic, Sony, Acer and Motorola, but EFI was among 35 that did not settle. Digitech is a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation, a self proclaimed leader in patent licensing, generating $959 million in revenues as of July 2013. It holds over 250 patent portfolios and has completed more than 1,200 licensing agreements.
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