A patent lawsuit against Burnaby's WebTech Wireless Inc. (TSX:WEW) is potentially one step closer to trial following a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) decision.
The PTO announced that it will approve a patent from U.S. competitor LunarEye Inc. after re-examining one of the company's original claims. The patent claim is the subject of a patent infringement lawsuit LunarEye launched against WebTech in 2007. WebTech makes vehicle-tracking equipment.
The PTO office is issuing a re-examination certificate after considering the patents and printed publications WebTech submitted for consideration. The PTO previously agreed to review LunarEye's patent at WebTech's request and in mid-2009 rejected the patent claim asserted in the lawsuit.
In response, LunarEye commented on the scope of one of the claim limitations, which in part convinced the PTO to allow the originally issued claim.
Cameron Fraser, WebTech's chief technology officer, said his company sought PTO rejection of LunarEye's patent claim on the basis that it was covered by prior art patents and printed publications. "[But] it appears that LunarEye has narrowed the scope of this claim."
LunarEye's lawsuit against WebTech was suspended pending completion of the re-examination, but is now expected to resume following the PTO decision.
WebTech CFO Scott Edmonds said, "The decision by the PTO is part of the process that could ultimately take us to trial. That said, we continue to believe we will prevail in this matter. We do not expect [it] to interfere with our business plans or significantly impact our results."