A Federal Judge Reopens the NewRiver-Newkirk Patent Fight
Reported by Neil Anderson, Managing Editor
The patent fight between Newkirk and NewRiver is far from over. On Wednesday a federal judge overturned a jury's April verdict that NewRiver's patent infringement claim was invalid and ordered a new trial to settle document and data specialists' dispute.
"We look forward to a new trial and once again proving that Newkirk's products infringe our intellectual property right," stated Russell Planitzer, CEO of Andover, Massachusetts-baed NewRiver.
Company Press Release
ANDOVER, MA, December 18, 2009 -- NewRiver, Inc., creators of the leading central repository of mutual fund documents and data for financial services firms, today announced a victory in its post-trial motions regarding the Company’s pending patent infringement action against Newkirk Products, Inc. In April 2009, a jury found certain claims of NewRiver’s United States Patent Number 6,122,’635 (the “‘635 Patent”) were validated and others were found to be infringed but not valid.
On December 16, 2009, a judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts overturned the jury’s verdict with respect to invalidity, noting that Newkirk’s evidence challenging the claims in question was “sparse” and that “general and conclusory testimony does not suffice as substantial evidence of invalidity”. The judge overturned the portion of the jury verdict that had invalidated claims 9-11 of NewRiver’s ‘635 Patent and ordered that a new trial on both infringement and validity be scheduled at a later date.
NewRiver’s ‘635 Patent, issued on September 19, 2000, covers a proprietary method of obtaining and processing securities information from a database, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission through the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”). NewRiver was awarded the ‘635 Patent by the United States Patent Office after intense research and development on the Company’s flagship product Prospectus Express®. The patented method significantly reduces costs and improves compliance for mutual fund document fulfillment.
“NewRiver is very pleased with the Court’s decision,” stated Russell Planitzer, Chief Executive Officer of NewRiver. “We had already succeeded in proving in court that Newkirk was infringing on our patent. We are gratified that the judge has now acknowledged the strength of our patent by reversing the jury’s invalidity verdict. NewRiver was the first to market these ground-breaking document management capabilities and currently provides solutions to more than 100 leading financial services firms. We look forward to a new trial and once again proving that Newkirk’s products infringe our intellectual property rights.”
NewRiver will be seeking damages in excess of ten million dollars and a permanent injunction prohibiting Newkirk from selling its infringing products. Mr. Planitzer went on to say, “NewRiver values its intellectual property rights and, if necessary, will take all appropriate actions to aggressively enforce and defend them.”
About NewRiver, Inc.
NewRiver develops innovative technology solutions that help financial leaders simplify investor disclosure - providing transparency and cost savings to the delivery of fund data and investor communications. Since 1995, the company has helped some of the world's leading financial organizations move from paper to electronic disclosure via an easy to use, cost-effective, managed service offering. NewRiver pioneered the first electronic prospectus, and is the only company to guarantee its data to be "compliance grade" which allows customers to reduce risk, lower compliance costs and increase revenues. Through a patent-pending, automated process NewRiver efficiently monitors 6 million data points from over 25,000 fund CUSIPs. Further, the company's unique "paperless" approach improves the investor experience while offering a real alternative to the environmental impact of paper-only delivery. Relied on daily by over 100 leading financial services firms, and millions of investors, NewRiver is a trusted and growing solution provider facilitating the transition from paper-based mutual fund information, to electronic. To learn more, please visit our website www.newriver.com or call 978-247-7200.
Subscribe to MFWire.com's News Alerts [click]
Email & Route 
Print 
Raw XML
