A federal judge Wilmington, Del., has agreed to separate patent-infringement claims against a group of technology vendors and credit unions regarding a patent for card-customization technology and send them to different courts, creating three different venues for patent holder Serverside Group to pursue its claims.
The court’s ruling favors the credit union defendants because it will require the British company to call witnesses and pursue cases in Iowa and Colorado as well as Delaware and because it removes several of the claims from the Delaware court, which is known as one of the most pro-plaintiff in patent suits.
Serverside has claimed in its suits that several vendors, credit unions and banks have infringed on its patent for card customization technology marketed as MyPhotoCard, Picture My Card, Design Your Own Card, Creata Card and Cre8 My Card (
Despite the setback, Serverside said it will continue its legal claims.
“Given the robustness of our case, we look forward to pursuing the defendants in Colorado and Iowa,” says Michael Campbell, Serverside’s general counsel. “We are also eager to prosecute our claims against the defendants that remain in Delaware.”
Last week’s ruling was procedural and had nothing to do with the merits of the infringement claims, Campbell says. “In fact, Judge Andrews’ decision clears the way for us to begin pursuing discovery and developing the substance of our case,” he says.
The judge ruled Delaware was not the proper jurisdiction to hear Serverside’s claims against two groups–T8 and Bank Iowa; and CPI Card Group, PSCU Financial Services, Anheuser Busch Employees Federal Credit Union, Neighbors Credit Union and The Members Group–because none of the entities actually does business in Delaware. Those claims will be moved to the federal court in each of those states.
The Delaware court will continue to hear the dispute Serverside has with JHA Payment Processing, Credit Union 1, Dimpledough and Eastern Bank.
Two other credit union entities, Florida Credit Union Service Organization United Solutions and Michigan Credit Union Service Organization Design One Creative, and American State Bank, all agreed to settle the patent claims with Serverside by signing a licensing agreement (
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