Rothwell Figg obtains summary judgment ruling of invalidity on behalf of Dow Jones & Company

In a case concerning technology to personalize web sites, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. declared two patents held by Ablaise Ltd. invalid. In response to Ablaise’s demands for a licensing fee for the use of personalized content on the Dow Jones web sites, Dow Jones filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a judgment that the Ablaise patents are invalid or not infringed. In its July 15, 2009 order, the Court agreed with Dow Jones and granted its motion for summary judgment that both Ablaise patents are invalid.

The Ablaise patents had been licensed by multiple parties as part of what the Court (Robertson, J.) referred to as Ablaise’s “coercive licensing scheme that has more to do with the costs of litigation than the novelty of the patent.” Parties that had agreed to license the Ablaise patents included E*Trade Financial Corporation, Citigroup, Inc., Blockbuster, Inc. and Dell, Inc.

Dow Jones was represented in this matter by Steven Lieberman, Sharon Davis, Brian Rosenbloom and Oliver Edwards.

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