RESTON, Va. (Legal Newsline) - A company that describes itself as the “one-stop source” for integrated technology for correctional facilities has filed 10 more petitions at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as part of its expanding effort to invalidate a competitor’s patent portfolio.
Global Tel*Link Corporation on Tuesday filed seven inter partes reviews, two post-grant reviews and one covered business method review challenging nine additional Securus Technologies Inc. patents and 209 additional patent claims.
The filings target a cross-section of Securus’ portfolio, including patents on video calling, payment services, messaging, investigative solutions and inmate telephone services, among others.
GTL alleges that the Securus patents mimic available consumer products, like Apple’s FaceTime, and a “range of other technology” that was well known long before Securus’ patent applications were filed.
“GTL views these patents as roadblocks to free and fair competition, and we are challenging them to demonstrate to the marketplace that Securus is not the innovator it claims to be,” GTL CEO Brian Oliver said Tuesday.
In particular, GTL contends that Securus “inflated” its IP portfolio by filing duplicative patents with minor changes; obtained patents covering a wide range of technologies already in the public domain and patented by others; and secured patents without inventing any new technology.
“We believe that this latest action will, once and for all, bulldoze the patent toll booth that Securus has used to impose what amounts to a cost-of-doing-business tax on the industry,” Oliver said.
“GTL seeks to expose these patents for what they are -- a collection of ideas and inventions that others thought of first and which Securus wrongly claimed as their own.”
According to GTL, Securus has filed at least 12 lawsuits against 19 industry competitors in the last decade, often forcing smaller companies into settlements to avoid the high costs of litigation.
“We are committed to exposing their baseless claims in court, to end their harassing lawsuits, and to stop the fear tactics that have been a plague on this industry for a decade,” Oliver said.
Last year, GTL challenged eight Securus patents.
The PTAB already has found that there is “reasonable likelihood” that GTL will prevail in proving all of the 146 claims in those patents are invalid.
The board also has instituted trial against all eight patents, including Securus’ prized patent for centralized call processing. GTL contends the patent was approved on the basis of misleading statements by Securus to a patent examiner.
According to its website, GTL provides services for at least 50 percent of inmates nationwide, including service to 32 state departments of corrections, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 32 of the largest city/county facilities. It is headquartered in Reston, Va., and has more than 10 regional offices across the country.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at patents@legalnewsline.com.