Engate Trial Scheduled for February

August 27, 2004 - On July 31, NCRA reported that the judge in the Engate patent litigation issued the fourth major ruling in a row in favor of the remaining defendants, Esquire Deposition Services and Atkinson-Baker. The Court ruled that 11 key claims asserted by Engate under its patents were invalid and unenforceable. In essence, the Court invalidated those patent claims that attempted to cover a realtime feed that allows a lawyer to read, highlight, annotate, navigate, list issues, view transcripts remotely, and perform other critical functions.

The defendants' victory was not complete, however, because the Court denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the 11 remaining patent claims that were before the Court, citing insufficient evidence at the summary judgment stage to determine validity. Also left to be resolved are four related patent claims that were not subject to the summary judgment motion and hundreds of other claims that Engate has asserted in its patents, but that have not yet been actively considered by the Court.

Not surprisingly, almost immediately after the Memorandum and Order was issued on July 30, both Engate and the remaining defendants filed motions for reconsideration. Following briefing and oral argument, the Court issued an Amended Memorandum Opinion and Order dated August 20. The Court decided that one of the 11 patent claims that it previously invalidated should also be set for trial. This patent claim covers the realtime synchronization of a transcript and video. The Court also modified the legal rationale for some of its other rulings. The validity of the other 16 patent claims in dispute is scheduled to be considered at trial in February 2005.

As it has done in the past, NCRA will keep all of its members as informed as possible about the Engate litigation so that individual member reporters can make informed and independent decisions about what actions are in their own and their firm's best interests. NCRA will also continue to help facilitate the defense of those member reporters who have decided to join the Joint Defense Group for as long as the situation may last. For the most current information on the Engate matter, , visit " pathattribute="0">NCRA's Key Issues Area.