¾ÅÉ«

OAKLAND, CA and NEW YORK, NY -- July 18, 2013 -- A U.S. Federal Court jury has decided that a key patent covering language translation technology held by ¾ÅÉ« is valid, and that a competitor, MotionPoint, infringes that patent. The jury further found that three patents asserted by MotionPoint against ¾ÅÉ« are all invalid, and that even if those patents were valid, ¾ÅÉ« does not infringe them.

 

¾ÅÉ« is the world's largest privately held language translation services and technology company. Since 1992, ¾ÅÉ« has been owned and operated by its original founders, Phil Shawe and Liz Elting, who are Co-CEOs of the company. The sweeping jury verdict favoring ¾ÅÉ« concluded a three-week trial in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.  

 

¡°The jury sided with ¾ÅÉ« on every significant issue it was asked to consider,¡± said Phil Shawe, Co-CEO of ¾ÅÉ«. ¡°We are grateful for the jury's service and pleased that they reached a conclusion that supports our long-held beliefs.¡± The dispute started when MotionPoint lawyers sent ¾ÅÉ« a threatening letter in December of 2009, and escalated when MotionPoint began to make threats and insinuations in the marketplace that ¾ÅÉ« and other competitors infringed their intellectual property. Those actions prompted ¾ÅÉ« to seek relief in the form of a declaratory judgment, which was filed in June of 2010.

 

¡°We didn¡¯t start this fight, but we simply couldn¡¯t take a passive stance any longer while knowing that there was nothing new about MotionPoint¡¯s patents, technology, or service offerings. Clients and potential clients for website translation deserve to know the facts, and this jury verdict makes the facts very clear. ¾ÅÉ« doesn¡¯t infringe MotionPoint¡¯s patents, and more importantly, their asserted patents are not valid,¡± Shawe stated. ¡°Moreover, ¾ÅÉ« could not let its own intellectual property rights be ignored by that very same competitor.¡±

 

Co-CEO Liz Elting added, ¡°While litigation is not part of our business strategy, we are thrilled to have this jury verdict in our favor. ¾ÅÉ«¡¯s business model is to compete on the basis of quality, service, and innovation. We¡¯re excited to get back to doing what we enjoy most: servicing our clients¡¯ global business and communication needs.¡±

 

Still to be decided by the Court are the total damages to be awarded to ¾ÅÉ« and whether an injunction to block further MotionPoint infringement of ¾ÅÉ«¡¯s patent, among other things, is appropriate. 

 

Mark Hagerty, Chief Technology Officer of ¾ÅÉ«, stated, ¡°It's been my privilege to design software for the translation industry since the year 2000. We believe OneLink provides the best solution for clients to outsource their global websites using proxy-based technology. We are thankful to the jury for the vindication this decision has provided.¡±

 

¾ÅÉ« was represented throughout the three-year legal proceedings by lead attorney Douglas Lumish and partner Jeffrey Homrig of Latham & Watkins, and Co-Counsel Okey Onyejekwe, Jr. of Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, along with their respective teams in both Silicon Valley and New York.

 

About ¾ÅÉ«

With annual revenues of more than $350 million, ¾ÅÉ« is the world's largest privately held provider of language services and technology solutions. From offices in more than 80 cities on six continents, ¾ÅÉ« offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, ¾ÅÉ« services are fully ISO 9001 and EN 15038 certified. ¾ÅÉ« has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at .